


Heroes: The Following

by Focuscelt



Category: Adventure Time, Heroes (TV)
Genre: Brought from fanfiction.net, Crossover, Gen, Minor spoilers from both shows, remastered
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:07:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 24,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25371364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Focuscelt/pseuds/Focuscelt
Summary: Sylar has returned once again, more powerful than before ever since his battle with the heroes tasked with stopping him. To defeat the madman once and for all, these heroes would have to enlist help from an unknown ally from another universe.
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello readers! This is my first time posting a story on this site. I heard it was more popular and well known than Fanfiction.net, so I guess I'm here to see if that's true or not. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the read!

When the smoke cleared, Sylar's corpse was nowhere to be found. After being penetrated through the chest by Hiro's kensei sword, he had mustered up the strength to telekinetically fling Hiro back against a building, causing him to travel backward or forward in time, while at the same time, nearly forcing Peter to blow up due to his uncontrollable radiation emission power. The moment Peter had managed to regain control of his powers, Sylar's body had disappeared.

"This is impossible!" Noah said, throwing his head side to side as if Sylar would magically appear in front of him.

"I thought Hiro killed him!" Matt responded, being just as shocked as Noah was.

"If he was dead, then he wouldn't have attacked us as a last ditch effort to escape." Peter stated as a matter-of-factly, grabbing everyone's attention.

"What do you mean?" Angela asked, looking her son in the eye.

Exhaling out his nose, Peter walked towards the puddle of blood that Sylar had once lied in, "He might be alive."

"If that's the case, then we'll have no way of knowing where he is until he makes a move!" Matt said.

Being a police officer who had the ability of telepathy - the power to read minds, Matt was able to predict what everyday low life criminals would do. Despite this, Sylar was an exception. Often at times, Matt had struggled to use his telepathic power against Sylar. Doing so, usually ended in pain for him, because attempting to read the mind of an individual, especially someone like Sylar, would take incredible amounts of energy and mind power.

"I have an idea." Peter piped up, causing everyone to shift their attention toward him, "We'll get some rest before worrying about Sylar. He'll become a concern once we've replenished our energy, and our bodies have had the time to heal."

"Are you insane?!" Noah marched towards Peter before jabbing his chest with a finger, "We can't rest while that maniac is still out there! You want to have some cupcakes and tea while you're at it?!"

"Noah, that's enough! Peter has a point." Angela noted sternly. Reluctantly, Noah backed off Peter, before allowing Angela to continue, "Although I agree with you, we can't rush into another battle after having barely won this one. As Peter said, we need to replenish our energy so that we can think more clearly afterwards. Besides, not even Sylar would be stupid enough to make a move right after having escaped our grasp, so that leaves us with plenty of time to prepare a plan."

"Fine," Noah pushed the bridge of his glasses upwards with a frown, "But I won't be wasting valuable time resting while Sylar slips further away from our grasp."

Matt scoffed aloud thanks to Noah's obvious arrogance, "Oh yeah? How are you gonna get him back smart guy?"

"I'll use the resources the Company provides to find him." Noah's voice neared a growl only to settle on a grunt instead. He almost wanted nothing more than to wipe the ugly sneer off Matt's face.

"Guys, stop this!" Peter said, stepping between the two and placing his hands on their chests before their intense argument could escalate into a fight, "I don't care what you do after this, as long as it doesn't result in you killing each other. So back off!"

Taking his warning to heart, both Noah and Matt would lower the tension between them by backing off. Peter let out a satisfied sigh as he lowered his arms to his sides.

"Peter," Angela stepped toward her son before tugging at his arm. "Could you walk me home?"

Peter looked towards his mother briefly, before glancing up toward Noah and Matt, who both returned the look with a frown.

"Don't worry, I'm not staying here indefinitely." Noah said, running his fingers through his brown salesman like hair.

"Likewise." Matt added. Satisfied, both Peter and Angela left the Kirby plaza in the hopes that nothing would happen the moment they turned the corner; leaving Noah and Matt to their own devices.

It was a rather quiet walk, but that was to be expected when walking down a street in the middle of the night. Despite this, the lack of silence was surprising for Peter, as he expected his mother who had the gift of gab to be the one to strike up a conversation. Yet, there was likely millions of thoughts racing through her mind that had not escaped her mouth, but one that stuck out more than others; Sylar's sudden disappearance.

Peter's near-death experience, the fact that they nearly lost the battle - it was enough to keep anyone locked in their head. But once they began walking down the street she had to reside in, ever since her house in Philadelphia was destroyed by Sylar. Angela decided that now was the best time to break the silence that plagued both their ears.

"Will this ever end, Peter?" Angela asked.

As she looked down at the sidewalk, Peter struggled to come up with a quick, proper answer. This question came out of the blue, and was so random that he didn't even know of a proper way to answer it in time.

"I don't know?" He replied truthfully, scratching the back of his head. He was supposed to be comforting his mother with soothing words, not feed her doubt and worry! Peter cursed himself for the lack of ability to come up with something more appropriate to say.

"Thank you for being honest." Angela sighed, and then continued, "For as long as I can remember, Sylar has always come back no matter what we do. From when we tried to bury him alive, to when Matt tried to erase every single memory he had. Every time, he came back. More powerful, seeking vengeance, looking to hurt every single person he came into contact with. Noah, Matt, you, and your brother."

Peter felt his heart sink, as he heard his mother struggle with mentioning his brother. "No one is invincible, that includes Sylar. He will be defeated. We just need to hold onto hope."

"But for how long Peter?" Angela asked, stopping mid-walk as she turned towards Peter. "We've lost too much, and no matter what effort we put into 'killing' him, he always comes back!"

Peter looked at Angela, both speechless and dumbfounded as his mother broke in front of him. "Peter, I'm afraid that this fight as gone on too long for your own good. I already lost Nathan, I can't lose you too."

Letting out a sigh of pity, Peter wrapped his arms around his mother to comfort her, "I miss him too."

The two silently embraced each other beneath the dim yellow street light. Both had been through so much thanks to Sylar, and both knew the risks of taking him on. Letting go of Angela, Peter would place a comforting hand on her shoulder, with a smile accompanying it.

"Mom, you know as well as anyone else does that Sylar is a danger to not only us, but the world. Someone has to stand up against him, and keep on standing up. That's what Nathan would want, and that's what everyone else would want." He said, wiping away a tear that rolled down Angela's cheeks.

"I know not doing anything is not an option, but that won't stop me from worrying about you." Angela said, before being the one to continue the walk with Peter following close behind.

Not too long after their discussion, they would reach the entrance to the apartment complex Angela lived in. It wasn't exactly candy to the eyes, as not only was it located in a drug addicted neighborhood, the building itself had graffiti littered on the worn-out brown bricks. People had stopped caring for this neighborhood a long time ago, but that didn't deter Angela from moving right in despite Peter's warnings. Her excuse: it was incognito enough to be living in. After all, Sylar would probably be expecting her to relocate to a place that was far better looking and fancier.

After opening the door into the building, both Angela and Peter would take the stairs up to her apartment given the elevator was out of service. After climbing up the flights of stairs, the two would leave the staircase before they'd tip-toe towards her apartment. The walls here were painfully thin, and any noise made by them or anyone else in the middle of the night would likely result in them being reported to the buildings manager with a risk of being vacated. In the end, the two had managed to quietly reach the front door to Angela's apartment and head inside. After taking a small breather, Angela would place her coat on a coat rack before joining her son on the couch. For a while, the two would stare at the old television set. They didn't bother turning it on, as it never worked no matter how many times they fiddled with the antenna. Even if it had worked, Peter wasn't here to stay. He had already walked his mother home safely, and was killing time at this point.

After looking at the clock which read 10:45 PM, Peter stood up, "Try to get some sleep, alright? I'll come by tomorrow to check on you."

"Please, we both know that I get more sleep than you do." Angela lightly chuckled, faking a smile.

She was still worried about the events that may very well transpire after this night, but she didn't want her son to worry about her. He had already gone through so much. Sharing her smile, Peter leaned down to kiss his mother on the head, before turning toward the front door. After Peter had quietly left, Angela would make her way towards the front door before locking it. For a moment, she wondered how Peter was going to get home himself, only to quickly remember that Peter had the power of flight. He could circle the entire world in five to ten minutes at his fastest if he wanted, although that was an over-exaggeration on her part.

After taking off her shoes; something she periodically forgot to do after walking inside, Angela would slowly make her ways toward her bedroom after turning off the dimmed living room light. She'd make her way through the open door into her bedroom, closing the door behind her before setting up the alarm on her digital clock. Peter had told her he'd come by tomorrow, and she didn't want to oversleep by the time he arrived. As soon as she set up the alarm, Angela would be quick to collapse on the bed. She had never realized how exhausted she was. About half an hour ago, she had more energy inside her than an energetic child since the fight with Sylar. Now, her her eyes couldn't feel any more heavier.

A thumping noise inside her room was all she needed to shoot up from her bed. Her pupils dilated immensely due to fear, as they tried to make out what looked like a shadowy figure standing idle at the corner of her bedroom. Moving quicker than she ever thought was possible for a woman her age, Angela would flick on the light before shooting her head toward where she thought she had saw the dark figure. She blinked once, then twice. There was no one there. After rubbing her eyes, she'd search around her room for any sign that someone besides her was here. All she found, was an old journal that had fallen from her dresser. She picked it up before examining both the front and back. She didn't remember it being close to the edge, nor did she remember taking it out of the spot she hid it in.

Still a bit jumpy from the scare, Angela decided it would be best to thoroughly search her apartment before deciding that it was safe to sleep in again. The search didn't take that long, as the apartment wasn't that big. It only consisted of a bathroom, kitchen, living room, and a bedroom. It wasn't anything to complain about, especially when you're living on your own. Any other rooms outside of the main four would just be overkill when living by yourself.

Once satisfied with her sweep of the apartment, Angela made her way back into her bedroom after turning off all the lights again.

'It must've been my eyes playing tricks on me.' Angela thought to herself, rubbing her head as she'd chuckle nervously to herself. Once again, she'd shut off the the light before climbing onto her bed. Without anything else to distract her, Angela would pull the bed sheets over herself before closing her eyes; sleep already taking the old woman.

Once again, Angela would wake up in a desert. The merciless wind blew up waves of sand, trapping her inside a sandstorm which made it harder to see and properly breath. All of this however, was far too familiar to Angela, as she has had this same dream almost every single day ever since the death of her other son, Nathan. This time however, felt different. Usually, she couldn't move in this dream. She'd just stand still on this very spot, before the sand eventually buried her alive after a few minutes, to which she'd quickly wake up afterwards. Now, she could move freely as if invisible chains had been broken. To make matters better, the sandstorm that had limited her sight and oxygen would spontaneously cease, causing all the particles of sand to fall back down onto the desert floor.

Just as quickly as it took for things to look up, it only took a single moment for them to start spiraling back downwards. She had been too busy staring at the vast size of the desert she was in to notice Peter running towards her. She only came to notice his presence after he had grabbed her by the shoulders, forced her to spin around and look at him.

"What are you doing! Run, quickly! Get out of here before he comes back!" Peter yelled, his face bloodied from the unseen beating he endured. Angela nearly screamed at the sight, but pulled herself together.

"W-What do you mean? Who's he?" Angela asked with the faintest hint of fear following.

Right as Peter opened his mouth to reply, a sword would burst out through his chest, causing him to cough up blood on Angela who screamed in horror. After a few seconds passed, the sword would be yanked out of Peter's chest, causing him to fall on the ground as Angela looked up at his killer: Sylar.

Right away, Angela froze with fear while Sylar began to menacingly approach her at a slow pace. The grimace on his face couldn't be more anymore clearer the closer he got. Angela knew she had to do something before he was within reach to hurt her. Right now, Angela saw herself with two options: fight or flight. With a rush of adrenaline flowing through her body, Angela would turn heel before attempting to make a run for it. She only managed a few steps forward before an invisible force abruptly stopped her. After realising she lost control over her own body, Angela would find her body being lifted into the air before being straightened out as her legs slammed together and her arms flew down to her sides with clenched fists. She would strain ever so desperately to break out of this frozen trance, but to no avail. She'd eventually find herself slowly turning around facing Sylar, to which she'd be lowered onto the desert floor and moved towards him as he beckoned her with his finger.

She would only stop moving once she was within Sylar's reaching distance. Once again she'd try to break free of his telepathic hold, before abruptly stopping as Sylar placed a hand on her cheek, as if his sudden appearance wasn't scary enough.

"Let me go!" Angela yelled, her attempt to turn her head away becoming futile.

"I see you've missed me." Sylar laughed darkly at his own sarcasm, letting the hand he used to stroke her cheek fall to his side.

"If you're trying to scare me, it won't work." Angela said in a shaky voice that didn't really sell her claim. In reality, she wasn't sure if she was saying that to Sylar or herself.

"I didn't come to scare you, Angela." Sylar's rolled his eyes as he wore a more serious expression, "I simply want to collect some information, nothing more."

Angela's attempt at struggle diminished slightly, as it started to become more and more clear that there was no point in trying when you couldn't even move anything but your mouth. Even though she could very well talk, from here on out she decided not to. Conversing with this monster was as useless as having a pet rock.

Sylar would frown upon noticing this, "I really don't care if you keep your mouth shut or not. I didn't want you to anyways."

It took a while for Angela to figure out what Sylar meant, but once it clicked, she'd freeze with fear. Well, she was technically already frozen on the spot. Either way, this was the reaction Sylar was looking for, as he felt like nothing if no one feared him. He wanted people to know he was powerful. That he could kill them without a second thought, or batting an eyelid. Angela was very well aware of this fact, along with a few other people that were unfortunate enough to come into Sylar's path.

"You won't get anything from me! I won't allow it!" Angela cried out, her tone taking Sylar by surprise for a split moment.

He didn't reply, seeing no reason to. Angela had chosen a path to walk down, and forever was she forced to walk down forcing her to forever stick with it. but how far would she walk until she went back to go down the other path? Time could only tell. Slowly lifting his hand, Sylar would point his index finger at her forehead. Angela immediately knew what was going to happen next; he was going to rip off the top half of her skull, not only exposing her brain, but her thoughts, mind, and power.

Angela had held onto the hope that this was just another one of her unusual dreams. But this wasn't the case, and she slowly began to realize this. Sylar's hand tracing across her cheek had felt so real. He sounded real, and behaved like his usual self: an uncaring psychopath. It was here when Angela began to wonder if this was actually Sylar, in her dream. Had he entered her mind without her prior knowledge? If that was the case then somehow, somewhere, he was using a power similar to Matt's telepathic power to force himself into her dream.

Under this new realization, Angela snapped, "Do your worst you sinner! You think you can win by invading my dream? Ha! We've stopped you once before, and we can do it again! It will only be a matter of time before we stop you once and for all, and remove you from existence!"

Sylar's expression faltered slightly, before returning the previous unreadable look from before. He knew that his little acts of terror and villainy would stopped eventually, but he needed to remind Angela why such a thing wasn't going to happen any time soon. As soon as the smallest smidge of hope appeared on Angela's face, it would be wiped away as soon as she heard a chuckle. Sylar was chuckling. Did he find this funny? Then again, he was a psychopath. His chuckle transitioned into a sharp laughter that overall increased Angela's worries. His laughter died down, as a grin found itself stretched across his face.

"Oh Angela, you really can't think properly if it meant saving your life." He said as a matter of factly. "If I was able to enter your dreams this easily, then imagine what else I could do to you."

As a founding member of a company made to study and or keep enhanced humans in captivity, Angela wasn't stupid. As a result, it didn't take long for her to clue into what he meant. Not only was Sylar in her dreams, but he was also unknowingly looking through her thoughts; reading them like a book and looking into what Angela had planned for him. Her eyes widened in both realization and shock. The plan she had quietly developed with Noah's help would no longer work now that Sylar knew what it was.

"I kinda feel bad for him now, you know? You have so much plans for him, but they're plans that you'll never tell him about. What makes it worse; and that's coming from me, is you even want to use him to kill an infant. I mean - the bouncing baby boy of joy is me, but even I can show some restraint. I never thought you'd even have the ability to use Hiro for such feats, but what else can you expect from dear old Angela?" Sylar asked, as his grin transitioned into a scowl.

While Angela continued to shake and whimper with fear, Sylar would turn his head left and right to check his surroundings. The look he wore on his face made it seem as if he had just realized where they were, which was rather odd.

"This is the future, right? I mean, you have that whole precognitive dreaming ability which enables you to see the possible future events through your dreams, right?" Sylar asked, even though he already knew the answer; something that rendered his question a statement.

Chuckling out loud, Sylar would shift his gaze back toward Angela, as he shifted his gaze back to Angela. "It's kinda funny and sad at the same time. I expected you to die in a more urban region, not in the middle of a desert. Ooh! And more heroically!"

As a tear began forming in the corner of Angela's eye, Sylar would once again point his index finger at Angela's forehead. Despite her soft pleads of mercy, Sylar would slowly move his finger across her forehead. Despite this being a dream, excruciating pain would shoot through Angela's head. He was going to kill her like the rest of his victims; by cutting the top half her head open to expose their brains and gain their power. More and more blood seeped through the open wound, as Sylar continued to slowly move his finger across her forehead - all while smiling giddly.

Just as he finished in time to admire his handiwork, a sudden beeping noise would begin to emit out of nowhere. It almost sounded like it was spanning across the entire desert. As a result, Angela would finally be released from Sylar's telekinetic hold, causing her to fall on the ground as Sylar whipped his head around in order to catch the source of the noise. As the beeping turned louder, Sylar led out a 'Ah' in realization, before letting out a chuckle. With a smile that would forever haunt Angela's dreams from this point on, Sylar would turn before kneeling down in front of Angela, cupping her face once more.

"It's time to wake up, Angela." He informed, kissing her bloodied forehead before watching as a black abyss would swallow her whole.

Angela would shoot up from her bed screaming in horror and fear. Even though the walls were thin, she didn't care. No normal person could sleep through that and not wake up screaming as if their life depended on it. Tears welled in her eyes as she half scrambled, half ran off of her bed, quickly backing up against a wall while hyperventilating. A phantom pain would shoot through Angela's head as she slowly began to realize that no visible danger was in her room, causing her to clutch her head and quickly check for the large gaping wound in her head that she received from her dream, only to feel nothing.

Calming down just a bit, Angela would rush out of her room after turning off her alarm clock to look at her reflection in the bathroom, unconvinced that she didn't procure a head wound. In the bathroom however, she'd discover that there was no sign of any cut on her forehead; not even a tiny mark or a hint of blood. Angela let out a huge sigh of relief, as she clutched the edges of the sink. Her wrinkled forehead was the same as it always was. Turning on the tap, Angela would throw two handfuls of water at her face in order to fully wake herself up, before turning off the tap and making her way out of the bathroom into the living room.

She squinted her eyes as the rays from the sun shot through a gap in her curtains, lighting up a small part of her living room. With an annoyed grunt, Angela would close the curtain before making her way towards the kitchen to fix herself something quick to eat. As she took a step into the kitchen, another sharp pain would shoot through her head, nearly causing her to fall on the ground.

Suddenly, Angela would be hit with tidal waves containing memories of the dream she had, involving Sylar. Angela now found herself rushing towards the Iphone Peter had given her for her birthday to send him a message. As she checked tapped Peter's name, Angela would read a message he had sent her.

'Hey mom! Just wanted to let you know that I'm on my way over! I'm leaving the apartment right now.' - Peter, 9:07 AM

Angela looked at the time on her phone, which read 9:10 AM. In her opinion, this was good. Because of the situation, Angela didn't want Peter coming over to her house, but instead a different location. She'd quickly type a message for Peter, before he could reach the apartment.

'Peter? Are you still there?'

Angela waited patiently for Peter to respond. After half a minute her message would be seen, and an icon indicating that Peter was typing something would pop up.

'Oh, hello! I honestly didn't expect you to be up yet.' - Peter, 9:11 AM

'I set up my alarm clock for nine o'clock. I wanted to be up early.'

'Well, I'm almost there so I guess I'll see you in a few?' - Peter, 9:11 AM

Angela's heart nearly jumped out of her chest. She didn't want Peter to waste his time by coming here, when she wanted him to meet her somewhere else.

'Yes, but not here. Not in my apartment.'

A minute passed, making Angela believe Peter had stopped mid-walk and was thinking of a reply.

'Why? Is something wrong?' - Peter, 9:12

'I'll explain when I see you. For now, I want you to gather Noah and Matt and meet me in the Company's old satellite facility.'

'Will do.' - Peter, 9:12

After Peter had sent the last message, Angela would place her phone back down on the table before going back into the kitchen. From there, she'd fix herself the cliche breakfast of eggs and toast, before showering and slipping on a set of clothing; a black blazer with a white shirt underneath, and mid-rise ankle pants. Once she was confident she had everything she needed, she'd leave her apartment with her keys, phone, and purse before locking the door and making her way downstairs.

Stepping outside of the building, Angela would nearly jump out of her skin as a loud car horn grabbed her attention. Angela would turn to see Noah waving at her in a black Bentley Mulsanne. Keeping back a groan of irritation, Angela would walk toward the car as Noah opened the passenger side door for her.

"Did Peter send you?" Angela asked, getting inside the front passenger seat before closing the car door.

"Yeah, he did. I got a text from him saying that I had to meet you, him, and Matt down at the old satellite facility." Noah replied, putting the car into gear before slowly driving out onto the road, after making sure he was clear of any cars, "I was actually in the area, so I offered to pick you up. Peter said he'd pick up Matt and take him there."

Angela nodded as she quickly fastened her seat-belt. Noah lightly tapped the steering wheel, as Angela looked in her purse to make sure she had everything she needed. Even if she didn't, she could always go back to her apartment to grab what she forgot.

"Mind if I ask what this is all about?" Noah asked, turning his head over to Angela for a split second before returning his gaze to the road to make a left turn.

"I'd rather reveal what I have to say when we get there." Angela replied in the voice Noah could never decipher.

Noah raised a brow, "Angela, we've worked together for years in the Company. You know you can trust me." After stopping at a red light, Noah would turn his head toward Angela.

"I know that, but I ask that you respect my wishes. I'd much rather prefer it if I told everyone all at once." Angela furrowed her brows.

With the light turning green, Noah would turn his eyes back on the road before accelerating; making a few turns and stops here and there without saying a thing. Angela looked out the window toward each passing pedestrian and building, while Noah fiddled with the rear-view mirror. As they began driving through less urban regions, Noah would give Angela a second long glance as they began travelling down a long straight strip of road.

"Is it bad?"

Angela fidgeted with her pants before responding, "Very."

From then on, the two would remain silent for the rest of the drive. The facility itself was located in a heavily secluded area, so secluded that Noah had to take the Bentley off road, as the location of this facility was supposed to remain a secret; hence why it was built on a not-so-busy road.

"Park here." Angela said after spotting a clearing nearby, "We'll go on foot from here."

With a nod, Noah would pull the Bentley over beside a tree before shutting off the ignition. After taking off the shoes she didn't want to dirty in the mud, Angela would follow Noah out of the car before travelling up a hill toward the facility.

"Think they're waiting for us?" Noah asked, wanting to start small talk as it could take them a while before they reached the facility.

Angela glanced toward Noah as she stepped over a branch, "It's possible. Depends on how they got here."

"This better not be another one of your secrets." Noah noted. Angela held back a groan that threatened to slip from her mouth, as she looked straight ahead so Noah could barely see her irritated expression. Throughout the years, she had kept many secrets from either the company she helped found, or her family. Most, if not all of those secrets would come back to bite her or someone else in the ass, and in the end she would be the one who had to pay the price for it.

"Trust me, it's not another secret." Angela finally responded, hoping Noah wouldn't dig in more. Thankfully he didn't, and once again the two remained silent until they reached the satellite facility. Positioned on top of a hill, the building itself was oddly small when you consider the fact that it was owned by a multi-million dollar company. Then again, this building was created during the founding days of the Company, and overtime the Company valued to create more advanced infrastructure in order to help locate and detain advanced humans; humans with many different abilities such as flight, telepathy, and so much more.

Walking through the already open doorway, Angela and Noah would walk inside before coming face to face with Peter and Matt.

With a smile, Angela would greet the two, "I'm glad you could make it."

"Well, I don't think any of us had a say in the matter." Matt said, taking his hands out of his pockets as Peter shot him an annoyed glare for his tone.

"Well, what did you bring us here for?" Peter asked, looking back at Angela.

"Come, we'll talk in one of the board rooms." Angela replied, before leading the three men deeper into the facility. Given it's small size, the group would find a boardroom in a short amount of time to have their meeting in. As the three men settled down on the chairs, Angela would close the door before taking a seat herself.

"Did you bring anyone else?" Angela asked Peter, taking out a few handkerchiefs before placing them on the dust covered table so she could rest her elbows on it.

"No. It's just us, Noah, and Matt."

"So, what's this all about?" Noah asked again, tapping his finger against the table a few times as he looked toward Angela.

Angela inhaled deeply as she recollected the events that transpired in her dream, "It's Sylar."

The room fell silent at the mention of Sylar. The only sound that could be heard in the room at that particular moment was the hum of the old flickering light that illuminated the boardroom. After two minutes of pulling their best dumbfounded looks, Noah would be the first to break the silence.

"What do you mean, 'It's Sylar'?" He'd ask, drawing the other two out of their shock.

Taking another deep breath, Angela would run her hands through her hair. Breaking the news down might be harder than she thought. A minute of silence passed, during which Angela would spend biting her nails trying to find a way to break the news down to the group.

"Something terrible has happened." Angela began.

The three men stared at Angela as she unveiled the recent events that had transpired in her dream with as much detail as she could pour into it. After what seemed like an eternity, the room finally stood painfully silent after Angela finished, leaving everyone to digest the information fed to them. Noah stood up and began pacing around the room in deep thought, while both Peter and Matt sat still in their own thoughts. Millions of thoughts raced through Noah's mind; all threatening to make him burst out in a sudden fit of anger.

Despite his attempt at calming down by walking around the room, Noah lose the battle of will by letting out a yell of fury and slamming his fist against the wall before coming to immediately regret that decision as excruciating pain flared up in his hand. Peter immediately got up to tend to his hand given he had been a medic before discovering he had powers, as Matt and Angela exchanged concerned looks.

"Noah, you need to calm down." Matt suggested, being the first one to speak as Peter sat Noah down.

"Calm down?" Noah glared at Matt, "Calm down?! Do you not hear yourself Matt?!"

"Noah!" Peter placed a firm hand on Noah's shoulder, causing him to rethink his next set of words before continuing.

"We've had to deal with Sylar for so long." Noah began once again as he clasped his hands on the desk, "We finally had a chance to rid ourselves of him once and for all, but now that chance has been wasted because he can invade our dreams."

"Noah, you must understand." Angela started with a soft expression. "I didn't want any of this to happen. I don't know how he did it, but throwing fits in a room won't fix that."

Noah snapped his head upwards towards Angela, "Are you fucking kidding me, Angela?! You should know how long it took to make a plan that could very well work! Not only do we now have nothing against him, but now we've put ourselves and Hiro in grave danger!"

"Wait, what plan?" Matt asked.

The room stood silent again, an event that would most likely reoccour within a short timespan. Noah and Angela looked at each other, before exchanging solemn nods.

"A long time ago before this situation," Noah started, "We made a backup plan just in case the one we made in order to bring Sylar down failed. In involved Hiro."

When Noah faltered to continue, Angela continued, "Without the approval of the Company, we planned to use Hiro to travel back to time and kill Sylar when he was still a child."

A wave of silence before Peter spoke, "You're joking right?"

"Peter," Angela started, "I-"

"No, no - no - no- No!" Peter yelled, standing up before relaxing as Matt placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

"We can't go that far! I understand why you might think it's the best course of action, but I want you to look me in the eye and tell me you can kill a baby." Peter said with his hands clenched.

"Now that I've been given the opportunity to really think about this, it would not be the best course of action unless you want to lose your humanity. Whether he was a monster or not as an infant, murder can never be justified." Angela replied, quicker than Peter had been expecting.

"I think we'll need a new plan." Matt stood up, neatening out his shirt.

"No shit." Noah rolled his eyes as he shot a glare toward Matt.

"Luckily for us all, I've already thought of a new plan." Angela informed, as Matt sat back down.

"Already?" Noah quirked a brow in surprise.

"What do you think I've been doing while you drove me all the way up here?" Angela asked with a smirk, causing Noah to chuckle.

"Well, don't keep us waiting." Peter said after he was calm enough to talk again.

"As you all already know, Sylar has infiltrated my thoughts and mind in order to unveiled the plans I initially had in store for him. Because of this, he is now aware of the major significance Hiro has in it. With this, I have reason to believe that Hiro has unknowingly found himself at the top of Sylar's target list." Angela paused to take in a breath, leaving enough time for Matt to voice his thoughts.

"Honestly, it's miracle he hasn't gone after him in the past. I heard he can even break out of the time paralysis whenever Hiro freezes time."

"Actually, there is evidence that there are a few select humans that can possibly break the chains time paralysis puts on them." Peter added, being one of the few people that had managed this.

"Thankfully, he's like one of us; the good guys." Matt smiled, as Noah cleared his throat in order to gain the attention of the others.

"I'm sorry if we're all talking over you Angela, but believing I know where you're going with this; how are we even going to warn Hiro about this? We don't even know where he is."

Angela tapped her chin as she tried to think of an excuse, but before she could, Peter would beat her to the answer.

"Oh, no worries there. Hiro is safe in Japan." Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Peter would pull out his phone where he'd showcase a recent conversation he had with Hiro.

"Well, isn't that convenient." Noah said, adjusting his glasses in order to get a better read of the texts.

"That's good." Angela smiled for the first time since they entered the room, "If we know where he is, we can extract him before Sylar can do anything."

"But how will we protect him? Sylar will be coming after Hiro, no matter if he's in Japan or not." Matt pointed out.

"Believe me, I'm counting on it." Angela said, as Peter and Noah turned their heads toward her, "Once Hiro is brought to New York city, we'll use him as bait to lure Sylar into our killzone. If we play our cards right, no harm will befall Hiro, and we'll be finishing off that monster."

While Angela stared patiently at the trio for their opinion, Peter and Matt would glance at each other with doubt written on their faces, unsure of what to say.

It would end up being Noah who would be the one to speak up; standing up after slamming his fist against the table, "You must be delusional if you think this is going to work! Because there are so many flaws with this plan, it's going to take more than a miracle for it to work!"

"I don't see you or anyone else in this room jumping at the opportunity to make a better plan of action!" Angela snapped, her patience running thin with Noah's constant outbursts.

"Good plans need time to perfect!" Noah countered.

"I thought you were the one who said we can't waste time letting that monster get away. Sure, it might not be a good plan; hell, I don't even have faith in it! But it's better than no plan at all! So unless any of you have a better one, we'll stick by this!" The room stood silent again. Noah sat back down and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation.

"What will we say to Hiro? We can't exactly tell him that we're going to use him as a guinea pig to lure in Sylar." Peter said, hoping to defuse the tension.

"We won't tell him anything; he doesn't need to know." Angela responded, placing a hand over her mouth in deep thought.

"He's going to ask, isn't he? Maybe it'll be best if-"

"If we tell him, we're simply going to scare him off." Noah interrupted, looking toward Matt, "Besides, we don't exactly have to be honest."

Matt blinked as he turned his head toward Angela, "You aren't going to consider this, are you?"

"As Noah said, we don't want to scare Hiro off. It's better if we simply lie to him instead."

"Matt," Peter clasped Matt's shoulder to get his attention, "as far as I know, no one else has a better plan at the moment. Trust me, lying to Hiro is the last thing I want to do, but it means we're putting an end to Sylar once and for all, then that's a risk we'll have to take."

"After all, we're saving hundreds, if not, thousands of victims that are unfortunate enough to cross Sylar's path." Noah added as Angela nodded in agreement.

"However, we don't have to entirely lie in order to get him to come here. I'm sure he'll be more than willing to help us if we tell him Sylar is back. He doesn't need to know he's the bait until it's too late." Peter said, although he wasn't all too proud of the idea. Everyone else in the room seemed to like the idea however, and did not voice any objections.

"We better win this." Matt said, making it more than obvious in his tone that he didn't have his full trust the plan, although it wouldn't really matter in the end.

"If that's everything, then this meeting is over." Angela declared. As everyone got up to leave, Peter would turn to his mother.

"Mom, who's going to bring Hiro back to New York City, and where are we going to put him?" He'd ask. Angela looked over his shoulder at Noah and Matt, dismissing them by waving her hand at them. As they left the room and closed the door, she would return her attention back to Peter.

"Given you have the power of flight and can travel faster than any other known aircraft, it's probably best you go to Japan and retrieve him. As for where you will take him, it's probably best if you bring him to the abandoned warehouse. Preferably around midnight, if you're able to."

Peter nodded his head. Although he didn't understand much of his mother's plan thanks to her vagueness, he understood the importance of bringing Hiro to the abandoned warehouse. It was bought out by the Company two decades ago, in order to help evolved humans working for the company grow and harness their powers. For reasons unknown to Angela however, it had been abandoned and closed off to the public years ago. Nevertheless, she found it perfect as a perfect place for Peter and other people with powers she befriended to practice there. The warehouse itself wasn't in much of an urban area, which meant that at night it wasn't as populated as it was in the day. It was more than good enough to try and lure in Sylar.

"I'd rather we get this done as quickly as possible, so try not to waste any time." Angela said, leaving the room with Peter following closely behind.

"Don't worry. He'll be here faster than you can say anything." A faint smirk formed on Peter's lips.

"Anything." Angela crossed her arms.

Peter frowned as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, "I'm guessing Noah's going to take you home?"

"I'm going with Noah, yes. But back to my apartment? Probably not. Me, him, and Matt will most likely stick together and wait for you to come back with Hiro. Which reminds me, do let us know when you're coming back." Angela answered, patting Peter on the shoulder.

"Please be careful mom. You know how dangerous Sylar is, and how far he will go to get what he wants." Peter said sternly, crossing his arms.

"With Matt and Noah by my side, he wouldn't dare." Angela said jokingly.

"Right. Those two could take on half the world and still be fine." Peter said in a joking sarcastic way, despite still being worried about his mother's safety.

"Now you're getting it." Angela smirked.

"I'll try to be back as fast as I can." Peter chuckled one last time for the day, stepping back before shooting off into the air. Angela looked up at the sky, as her son disappeared into the sky, before turning back to Noah and Matt.

"Let's get something to eat. I'll tell you the details of the plan in the car." Angela said. After finding their way back towards Noah's car, the trio would hop inside before buckling up. Once starting up the Bentley, Noah would begin to slowly drive the car out of the forest onto the road, where he'd drive back to the main city.

Travelling to Japan would not be no hard task for Peter. Given he was faster than any known aircraft that wasn't designed to take people to space, it would take at least half an hour at best to get there; maybe more if he didn't devote a majority of his energy into it.

Peter is similar to Sylar when it comes to his power, which is the ability of power replication. With this, Peter is able to mimic the powers other people possess for his own benefit. The more he practices with the powers he has replicated, the better he gets at using them. One of these many powers is flight; the first ability he harnessed from his brother Nathan. It was only when a man helped train him to use his new powers, where Peter grew to be powerful enough to rival even Sylar, who was once thought to be invincible until he had been stabbed through the chest. Despite the fact that both Peter and Sylar share the ability of power replication, how they'd go about using it would be far from the same.

Instead of taking the other persons power empathetically, Sylar would kill his victim by cleanly cutting off the top halves of their head to expose their brain, before taking their powers for himself. Sylar would then be able to use the new power to its full potential, unlike Peter who would have to practice using whatever new powers he gained. Because of this, Sylar quickly began the most powerful serial killer with multiple abilities to aid him in combat.

Peter's boredom began to grow to great lengths. He couldn't take out his phone to provide himself any form of entertainment, as there was no internet provider within range. That was to be expected however, given Peter was in the middle of the ocean. The only thing he could really do was listen to music, and even he didn't want to do that. Instead, he wanted to have his full attention on knowing where he was while simultaneously keeping an eye out for any islands. As far as he remembered, it had been about half an hour since Peter had flown over the western states toward the ocean, and maybe ten minutes or so since he flew past what he believed to be Hawaii. From there on, there would be nothing else but the vast blue ocean, aside from the occasional island he spotted from the distance from time to time. For a while, Peter briefly pondered on the thought of how he would be able to tell if he had reached Japan. It was very unlikely that he'd land in Japan first try without a map of sorts to lead him there.

As Peter began to dismiss these thoughts, he would notice the outline of a large landmass forming in the distance. Peter was a bit skeptical however, as this landmass could be any country. Indonesia, Australia, maybe even China! With only one way to find out, Peter fly at a comfortable distance inland before landing somewhere near a small town. It was currently night wherever he was, made him wonder if the sun was still up in the states. He wouldn't ponder on the thought for long.

After dusting off his clothes Peter would begin walking toward the direction of the town, praying to whatever god existed that he was in Japan. With the walk to the town only taking a few minutes given he landed near it, Peter would eventually find himself walking through one of the few streets. From what he saw, only a few people were still outside at these hours; mainly teenagers, who talked amongst each other in their own language. Peter slightly frowned as he observed the rest of his surroundings. The buildings in the town did have an East-Asian like style architecture, but that didn't really mean much. At least it seemed like he was in the right continent. All he really had to do is find out exactly where he was. Peter looked at the small group of teenagers with the realisation that if anything, they might be able to tell him where he is.

After straightening himself out again, Peter would begin walking towards the group in the hopes that they wouldn't be rude and treat him like shit. It wasn't exactly fair to compare teenagers in other countries to the teenagers in the states, but it wasn't exactly a good sight to see anyone hanging around outside in the middle of the night. As he approached, one of the teenagers; a girl with purple hair and gothic-like clothing would notice Peter approaching, and would nudge her friends to grab their attention. With their conversation coming to an abrupt end, the group of four would turn their heads toward Peter. One of them quickly dropped what looked like a cigarette from afar, stomping on it a few times before kicking it away. Peter didn't think much of this, but he had a sneaking suspicion it was something youngsters like them shouldn't be having.

When Peter stopped in front of the group, one of the teenagers would speak. Peter quickly assumed that they were talking to him, but he had no idea what he was saying. As one could properly guess, Peter couldn't understood or speak any other language other than English. Thus, his only luck at conversation would be if one of these teenagers spoke English.

"Oh, I don't speak-" Peter paused. He still didn't know where he was. If he was in Japan, he couldn't exactly say 'I don't speak Chinese'. The reason behind that was obvious; Peter didn't want to look like a huge racist in front of the first locals he came across. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the group burst out in hysterics no thanks to Peter's nervous tone.

"Ah, you are American?" One of the girls assumed, twirling a strand of her blonde hair around her finger.

"Yes, I am. From the states in fact." Peter responded before the group spoke amongst themselves in their own dialect, relieved that one of them spoke English.

Right as they turned their attention back towards Peter, he would ask them a question, "If you don't mind, could you tell me where I am?"

A teen dressed in mostly black clothing, with dark blue jeans being the only exception would step forward intimidatingly, forcing Peter to back up almost instinctively. He would say something in his own dialect; something Peter couldn't understand, and a flaw the teen quickly came to realise.

"Are you disrespecting our town, tourist?" The teen growled after a few minutes of figuring out what the English version of what he said was.

Peter tilted his head in confusion. Did he say something to offend him? Peter had little time to figure out what had offended the young man, as he'd see him take a step closer from the corner of his eye. This time however, he'd stand his ground. He didn't want to fight him, but at the same time he didn't want to be pushed around by some edge-lord who got offended by god knows what. The young man noticed this new development, and seemed to struggle on what to do next. It became obvious to Peter that it was expected for him to back up the moment he took a step forward. Before the young man could recollect his thoughts, the blonde teen that greeted him earlier would step between Peter and the young man. This took the both of them by surprise, as they both didn't expect the others to interfere. Peter was a bit more thankful of her action however, as he didn't want an unnecessary fight. The two exchanged a few words in their own dialect, before the blonde teen led the young man away from the group.

A few seconds of silence would pass by before a purple haired teen broke it, "I hope you don't mind Akemi. He isn't exactly fond of tourists."

Peter would be slightly taken aback by her rather fluent English, before responding. "Oh, it's alright. To be honest I'm not a tourist, I'm just looking for someone."

"So," Peter began, watching Akemi and the blonde teen walk away before shifting his attention back to the last two teens that stuck around, "I know this is a stupid question, but what country am I in?"

The two teens would briefly glance at one another, before bursting out to laughter. Peter knew how stupid the question sounded, and felt like slapping his own face for it. A brief thought collected in his head; would it be better just to ask if he was in Japan? Maybe it was, but there was no telling what sort of reaction these kids would have if he asked such a question. They might be sensitive about it just like that Akemi person was. As the laughter died down, Peter quickly took the chance to speak before any of them could.

"Yeah, I know - it's a stupid question. I had too much to drink on the airplane, and apparently my asshole band of friends thought it would be funny to constantly tell me that this was another country. I don't know what to believe anymore, my head really hurts too much to think properly, so it would really help if you could answer this: am I in Japan?" Peter held his breath.

Well, he inhaled, then held his breath. This was the moment of truth: would they have the same reaction as Akemi did? Or will they hear his plea, and willingly answer his simple question. Tune in next time, as we enter this thrilling conclusion of-

"You're in Japan." The purple haired girl responded after a small pause.

"Thank you." Peter smiled, being very relieved by her willingness to answer, and the fact that he now knew where he was. He did feel a bit of guilt for having to lie about having a short-term memory, but as long as it ended with him getting Hiro, then it shouldn't really matter.

The other teen would rub the back of his head after the purple haired girl translated what Peter had said. Afterwards, he'd respond in Japanese, letting Peter know that he didn't speak English even though the rest of his friends did. Before Peter could ask what he was saying, the purple haired girl would quickly repeat what he had said, this time in English.

"Eichi says if you're still feeling a little drowsy and need somewhere to live, he can hook you up with a place to sleep."

Peter shifted his attention toward Eichi, "Where?"

"You can sleep in the basement." Eichi offered with a nervous grin, surprising Peter by speaking English, "My parents don't go down there much, so you can crash there for the night and hopefully go unnoticed."

After Peter overcame the shock of Eichi speaking English, he'd scroll through his options. At first, he didn't want to consider the idea of sleeping in someone else's house, but after taking a moment to really think about it, the proposal didn't seem all too bad. He had to consider the fact that very soon, they were going to face a very dangerous man - a man they barely defeated in what should've been their last battle. If they were going to stand a chance in this fight, Peter would have to gain a refill on his energy, and so would Hiro whenever he found him.

"It doesn't sound that bad." Peter finally replied after much thought, "There's someone else I'd also like to bring into the basement though. We'll both need a lot of rest."

Eichi frowned at the idea of another stranger sleeping in his parent's house, but he'd simply shrug. "I guess it'd be fine? Who is he though?"

"His name is Hiro, he's a friend of mine. As far as I know, he lives and works in Tokyo, so I'm going to go meet him there."

"If we're going to Tokyo, then it'll please you that Eichi has a car." The purple haired girl informed before glancing at the aforementioned Eichi with a smirk.

"Dai! Why'd you tell him?" Eichi yelled, while simultaneously calling her by her name; Dai - something Peter would keep in mind in case he needed to call her by name.

"Because the plot demanded it?" Dai shrugged, as Eichi rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Can you?" Peter asked in order to defuse the tension.

"I could," Eichi admitted reluctantly, "But do I have to?"

"Yes!" Dai chirped happily, "Come on, it's not like we're doing anything else, are we? Going on an hour drive to Tokyo and back won't hurt."

"Fine." Eichi sighed, "We'll take my parents car."

Flipping her hair victoriously, Dai would walk toward Eichi before wrapping her arm around his. Peter on the other hand would wince slightly at the thought of getting into this a car this kid didn't even own. Wasn't that technically stealing, even if it was your parents car? Peter chose not to voice his concerns, or make it obvious that he was opposed to the idea of him being the one to drive. If this was the only way to get to Tokyo and retrieve Hiro, then so be it. It's not like he'd be here long enough to face the consequences anyways, depending on how he played his cards.

After he caught up to the two, Eichi would lead the group to the car, to which Dai would unwrap her arm and enter the car with Eichi and Peter following in after her. After everyone had buckled up, Eichi would start up the car before pulling out onto the road just as Peter pulled out his phone.

"What's the name of the address we're going to meet him at?" Eichi asked, briefly looking in the rear view mirror.

"Hold on, I'm asking where he is right now." Peter said before showing Eichi the conversation he and Hiro were having. From what Eichi and Dai could see, Peter had asked him where he was, to which he'd get the answer 'Yamagato Industries'. Afterwards, Peter had asked Hiro to stay in the building - providing a reason why before ending the conversation here, for now.

"Wait, he's going to be at work at these hours?" Dai asked.

"I actually think he was about to leave before I messaged him." Peter replied as he put his phone away.

"Well, let's hope he's still there before we get there." Eichi said, before turning on the radio to drown out the deafening silence that would follow after their silence.

(Yamagato Industries)

Hiro had lost track of time as he sat alone in his new office, listening to the mechanical ticks of the clock propped above the doorway. He didn't stay here to work this late after hours, in fact, he almost never did. However, a few minutes ago he had received a message from Peter of all people, telling him to stay at work as he was coming to retrieve him. That very message was sent about an hour ago, long enough for him to start getting impatient.

With a groan, Hiro would take off his glasses before rubbing his face in order to keep himself awake. He remembered about a year ago or more, he was a nobody who worked the cubicle where he'd first discover his space-time manipulation powers. For the longest time, Hiro had dreamed of being able to travel backwards and forwards in time. As if being given a miracle, on May 21st, 2013, Hiro's power had developed enough for him to turn the second-hand of his clock back a few seconds and make a train about fourteen seconds late. Ecstatic at these accomplishments, Hiro confided in his friend, Ando, only for him to be extremely skeptical of his supposed new abilities. After attempting to prove to Ando that he had powers by teleporting himself to the women's bathroom of a local club, only to be embarrassed as Ando claimed that it only proved he was a pervert. From there on out, after managing to teleport himself in the middle of Times Square, Hiro's ability has been growing to great lengths to the point where he can travel through time at great distances, even travelling to ancient Japan where he met his now ex-lover, Yaeko, otherwise known by Hiro as the Swordsmith's daughter.

A knock at his door would pull Hiro from his thoughts. With tired eyes, he'd place his glasses back on before looking up to see Ando leaning against the doorframe.

"Hiro," Ando walked toward his desk, "how long are you going to stay here?"

Hiro's somewhat grumpy mood quickly faded away, "I was told by Peter Petrelli to wait, so that's what I'm doing."

"This late?" Ando crossed his arms, "Come on, I've been with you long enough to know that you're not that kind of guy who stays at work twenty-four seven."

"Come on, let's get you home." Ando made his way toward Hiro, offering to help him stand up. Noticing his, Hiro would be quick to wave him off.

"No! I need to stay here!" He whined as Ando glared at him.

"Why?" He asked in a more confrontational tone.

"I told you." Hiro sighed, "I'm waiting for the flying man to show."

"So, you're waiting until the sun comes up for Peter to show up?" Ando asked rhetorically, "Can't you just fast forward time and make this easier for yourself?"

"I'm tired." Hiro quickly lied, faking a yawn. The truth was he had drank many energy drinks to keep himself up this late; without Ando's knowledge.

"I could help you with that," Ando offered. Placing a hand behind his back, Ando would lift his other hand out in front of him. Before Hiro's eyes, red electric currents would begin travelling up and down Ando's hand.

"Ando, cut that out!" Hiro hissed in a hushed tone, "Someone could see!"

Rolling his eyes, Ando would clench his fist to cancel out the red electricity surrounding his hand. After his minor panic attack subsided, Hiro would lean back on his chair to tilt his head up at the ceiling before closing his eyes in thought. Ando never had any powers of his own at first. He was just a pawn caught in a far larger game as soon as he discovered Hiro had the power of time manipulation. However, it was only when Ando received the synthetic power of energy projection; provided by the last vial of a formula known as Petrelli's formula, where he would finally be able to fight alongside Hiro with his new power. By using this power, Ando can project red energy in the palm of his hand, and expel it as a concussive blast outwards, knocking out a fully geared man or killing him if enough energy is poured into the attack. He is also able to amplify the powers of other power users, therefore enhancing their powers for either a limited or permanent time. For Ando however, the power takes a heavy toll on his own overall energy. The more he uses his power, the longer it will take for him to charge it again.

Hiro smiled as he looked back at Ando. At least he got the cool nickname, Crimson Arc, to go with it.

"Um, why are you smiling at me like that?" Ando asked, crossing his arms.

"Huh? Oh, nothing." Hiro dismissed, "Why are you here again?"

"Well, there's actually something regarding Peter you must know." Ando gestured toward the doorway. As if on cue, Peter would walk through the door with a smile on his face. Standing straight up, Hiro would manage to keep himself from screaming Peter's name, keeping himself in control before speaking.

"Peter Petrelli!" He squealed. Well, he tried. Peter chuckled as Hiro vaulted over his desk and ran over to him, enveloping him in a tight hug.

"What are you doing here?" Hiro asked before their reintroduction got out of hand.

"It's Sylar." Peter began after Hiro had let go of him, "Somehow, he's still alive. We already have a plan in motion on how to stop him, but we need your help."

Just like what happened in the boardroom, Hiro's office fell victim to dead silence at the mention of Sylar's name.

"I thought you killed him.." Ando leaned against Hiro's desk with his mouth hung open in silent shock. His knees grew weak weak as the news of Sylar washed over him in waves.

"We thought that too, but he attacked us at the last minute when we were least expecting him to get up. When the smoke cleared, his body was never found, and as of recently he managed to wiggle his way into my mother's dream, telling her of his intentions with you." Peter explained, before pausing to allow Hiro and Ando to digest the information. Based on their expressions, it became obvious to Peter that Hiro was far more shocked than Ando was, and understandably so. Who wouldn't be after stabbing someone through the chest with a sword, only to find out they were still alive?

Peter continued, "Because of this, my mother believes it best to get you back to New York."

Hiro opened his mouth to say something, only to be cut off by Ando, "What?! He can't do that!"

"He can, and he's going to." Peter countered, "Hiro is stronger than all of us combined. It was expected, but we're surprised he didn't make an act on you sooner."

"You expected this to happen?" Ando quickly interjected before Hiro could say anything, "Why didn't you do anything sooner?!"

"We're doing something now!"

"But-." "Ando, stop it!" Hiro yelled. Ando and Peter looked at Hiro in slight astonishment. It was rare for him to express negative emotions, as he has always appeared as a nice person who would do anything to protect his friends.

"Sorry, Hiro." Ando apologised, dipping his head. "I'm just looking out for you."

"I know. But I should be the one looking out for you."

Ando frowned, "With how you act, I should be the one looking out for you."

"I know." Hiro laughed, nudging Ando's ribs.

"Alright." Peter said with a smile, "We should get some rest first - gotta save up on energy after all."

"Shouldn't we be there as quickly as possible?" Ando asked.

"As I said, we have to build up our energy if we even want to stand a chance."

"But where will we go?" Hiro quickly asked before Ando could say anything.

"When I got here, these kids offered a place to stay for a while. He was nice enough to allow you to sleep there as well." Peter replied.

"Wait!" Ando interjected, "What about me? I want to help you!" "I also would've let you sleep at my place." He'd mumble.

"What was that?" Peter asked.

"Oh, nothing." Ando shrugged, "Could you just answer the question?"

"Don't worry, you can." Hiro said, "We'll work out the details tomorrow."

"Alright. You better, otherwise I'm telling your sister that it was you who-" Ando looked towards Peter, before finishing the rest of his sentence in Japanese.

"Alright, let's go. They're downstairs waiting for us right now." Peter said before walking out of the office. Ando and Hiro stood still in silence for a while, before exchanging looks and walking out of the office.

Outside, Peter would lead Hiro to Eichi's parent's car as Ando left to head home. The drive back would take another hour, which was the same span of time when they were travelling to Tokyo. This time, Peter had offered to drive given it seemed like he had more energy than the others. After getting back into the town he first arrived in, Peter would drive the car towards Eichi's house before pulling it into the garage; turning it off. It was here where Peter breathed a huge sigh of relief as Eichi informed him that his parents were heavy sleepers. Afterwards, Eichi would quietly lead Hiro and Peter to the basement as Dai travelled up to his bedroom. It wasn't much, but Eichi provided a makeshift bed out of clothes, receiving thanks from Peter and Hiro before leaving.

"We should've gone with Ando." Hiro sighed once he was sure Eichi was far enough not to hear him.

"Keep your voice down. The actual owners of this house don't know we're here, so we should keep it down." Peter whispered, "But yeah, I see what you mean."

A moment of silence passed before Hiro spoke again, "How bad is it?"

"It's pretty bad." Peter replied simply. The two continued to stay silent for a while, before it became clear that nothing else would be said. Peter would be quick to fall asleep, even though he wasn't feeling as tired as Hiro was. As Hiro looked up at the ceiling, a smile formed on his face as he softly whispered in Japanese before he fell asleep:

"Destiny is calling us again."

Managing to wake up right as Eichi came down to do just that, the three would quietly walk upstairs. Eichi's parents were still asleep, but it was still vital that they were quiet on their way out, lest Eichi's parents wake up thanks to the noise. As they got outside, Hiro nearly jumped at the sight of Ando's Nissan, with Ando himself leaning against it. Eichi himself was also taken by surprise, aside from Peter, who oddly seemed calm about his sudden unnotified arrival.

"I called him." Peter explained, "We'll need as much help as we can get."

"For what?" Eichi asked as Hiro turned around to face Peter, who quickly thought of a little white lie he could tell Eichi.

"For a project. That's why I'm bringing these two to the states." Peter replied. Eichi opened his mouth to say something, thought about it for a while, and promptly closed it, much to Peter's relief.

"Thanks for letting us sleepover." Peter said in order to get Eichi's mind off of the project he mentioned.

It seemed to work, as Eichi smiled before nodding his head as acknowledgement. After a few goodbyes, Eichi would slip back inside the house, leaving Ando, Hiro, and Peter to their own devices. The group of three didn't exchange any words at first when they got into the Nissan and drove out of the town. To cleanse their hunger, Ando provided Hiro and Peter a rather large meal he had purchased from MOS Burger. Aside from Hiro and Ando, Peter had never tired any Japanese foods, or foods made from Japan. The burger obviously wasn't traditionally Japanese as far as he knew - they were more American. He gave Ando his thanks, before taking his first bite of a Japanese cooked burger. His mouth immediately filled with the tastes a normal burger had, but different. Very different. Not bad obviously, it was the good kind of different. One that would make him go back for more if he had the chance.

Ando noticed Peter's expressions, and smiled, "Enjoying it?"

"It's really good!" Peter replied, "It has this taste I just can't explain."

"Well, enjoy it while you can. I don't think we're going to be here for a while." Ando warned, before pulling the car over in an empty parking lot.

By this point, Hiro and Peter had finished with their meals, leaving them with full bellies.

"Why'd you park here?" Hiro asked, as he, Ando, and Peter got out.

"Oh, this is only temporary. I'll get Kimiko to pick it up and drive it back to our house." Ando replied without noticing Hiro's faltering smile.

A rather long time ago, Ando had admitted his love for Hiro's sister Kimiko, but because of an incident that happened at a carnival, Kimiko never shared Ando's feelings. That was until Hiro had travelled back in time in order to fix that incident and cause Kimiko to fall in love with Ando. They now live happy lives together, not knowing that it was Hiro that had caused this. At times, Hiro often finds himself feeling jealous over the attention Ando receives from Kimiko, something he used to get before he travelled back in time to get them to come together. Now however, he has let go of this possessive trait and has accepted this new reality.

"Hiro, come on!" Ando yelled, snapping the young man out of his thoughts.

Letting out a peep to tell Ando he was coming, Hiro dashed over to the group before following down a small flight of stairs that lead down to a beautiful looking empty beach. He was a bit confused as to why they were there, before Peter spoke.

"Alright, I remember flying in from this direction. We should be able to get to the states this way." Peter explained, "The only problem is how I'm going to take the both of you there."

The group stood silent in thought for a while. Hiro almost had an idea, but at the last idea it faded away before he could say it out loud. Fortunately, Ando would speak up as soon as an idea visited his head.

"Why don't we use Hiro to teleport us there?" He'd suggest, "He can use his time power to take us to, well, wherever you're taking us."

"Well?" Peter asked as he turned to Hiro, "Can you do that?"

"Yeah." Hiro said after a while, "Yeah, I can do that."

Beckoning Peter and Ando over, he would take ahold of their hands before closing his eyes in preparation to use his power. Before anything happened however, Hiro would open his eyes before craning his neck to look at Peter.

"I'll need to know how far you want to go, and where; in detail."

Peter obliged, "An hour from now, we'll be in New York City at the warehouse we had helped train you and Ando to use your powers."

Hiro nodded before once again closing his eyes, now with the knowledge of where and when he'd need to travel. Clenching their hands tighter, Hiro would take a deep breath before activating his power. In a split second, the group would disappear from the beach before finding themselves in the arms of the Big Apple. A few seconds after readjusting to their new location, Ando and Hiro would nearly fall on their knees after a life-haunting smell entered their nose. It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to conduct that the horrid smell was that of sewage.

"How?" Ando choked as he covered his nose and mouth, leaving his voice muffled, "How can people live in such a place?"

"Without gas masks?" Hiro added, copying Ando by covering his nose and mouth.

By this point, he feared the smell had caused permanent damage to his nose and other senses lace like this, and one quick whiff of the air told him that the stench had not gone away.

"Try not to think about it." Peter said, covering his nose and mouth as well, "Besides, you hopefully won't be here long enough for the smell to cause irreversible damage to your noses."

"At this point, I think it's too late." Ando rasped in a muffled voice.

"Alright, how about this. Assuming you two know where the gateway inside the warehouse is from here, I want you to go there. My mother and all the others should be there waiting for you." Peter said as he backed up, "They'll tell you what the plan is."

"Wait, what about you? Are you not coming?" Ando asked as Peter stopped a few feet away.

"I am, but I have to do something very quickly." Peter replied, "Don't worry, I won't take too long. I'll try to be as fast as I can."

Before any more questions could be asked, Peter would use one of his many powers to run before Hiro and Ando even had a chance to blink. It'd take them a second or two before they realised that Peter had just shown them one of the powers he had recently harnessed from no one other than Daphne Millbrook. This person had the power of enhanced speed, and was able to run faster than the speed of sound. However, due to her powers being accidently enhanced by Ando, Daphne has been able to run faster than the speed of light, allowing her to rarely time travel and move whilst in time paralysis caused by Hiro. This in turn caused her to be Hiro's nemesis.

"Right, I forgot he had that power." Ando said after the moment of silence had passed.

"The power of the speedster." Hiro added with a taste of venom in his voice, something Ando thankfully didn't catch onto even though he knew of the rivalry between Hiro and Daphne.

"Well, let's hope he comes back soon. Let's go." Ando said, walking off towards the warehouse with Hiro scampering to catch up with him. The walk to the warehouse wouldn't take long, as they had found themselves right beside the warehouse. In two minutes, Hiro and Ando would find themselves on the property of the warehouse, finding Angela and Noah standing by a crane with Matt smoking by a stack of crates. They'd walk towards them before stopping at a comfortable distance.

"Hello Hiro." Angela said before glancing towards Ando, "And Ando."

"Nice to meet you." Ando said, shaking her hand. This was one of the very few times Angela and Ando met each other face to face. To Hiro however, this was the first time they ever met each other.

"Where is Peter?" She'd ask, after noticing that he wasn't with them.

"He said he was going to do something, but before we could ask what it was he ran away." Ando replied, causing Angela's smile to turn into that of concern.

"Oh Peter, what are you up to?" Angela mumbled, before shaking her head to devote attention back to Hiro and Ando. "Did he happen to give you instructions on what you need to do?"

"No?" Hiro replied while wincing slightly. He hoped his answer wouldn't get Peter in trouble, and to his fortune, Angela relieved his fear.

"Good. It's better if I explain the plan to you, so it's fresh in your mind." Angela replied, her smile returning to her face.

"Please, follow me inside." Angela requested, placing a hand on Hiro's back before leading him inside the warehouse.

Ando prepared to follow them inside, before being stopped by Noah.

"It would be better if you would stay outside and guard the entrance. We don't need anyone drunk enough snooping around here." He stated, moving back to his spot after Ando nodded in understanding.

Inside the warehouse, Angela had already began to brief Hiro of the plan they had come up with when they were in the boardroom. Hiro seemed to approve of all the aspects of the plan, until she got to the part where they planned to use him as bait. Based on his facial expressions, Hiro did not like the plan all the sudden.

"Y-You're going to use me as bait?" Hiro asked as if he needed confirmation, "Against that monster?"

"I know, I don't like the sound of the plan either." Angela sighed sympathetically, "But this has to happen. You are on the top of his murder list, and this plan is potentially the only way we can put a stop to him once and for all."

"But what if he kills me before you can do anything?!" Hiro barely managed say, as he stuttered heavily from fear.

"I need you to trust me Hiro, I won't happen. You have my word." Angela said as she rested a comforting hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile to relieve him of his fear. After a moment had passed and Hiro had calmed down, Angela would wrap her arm around his shoulder before leading him to the very end of the warehouse. Once they were at the end of the warehouse, Angela would position Hiro by the wall before giving him a piece of toffee to further alleviate him of his fears.

"Just stay here and distract him as best as you can once you see him. We'll take our spots and make our move when the time is right." Angela said, lowering her hand after Hiro had taken the toffee and slowly began unravelling it.

"But how will he know that I'm here?" Hiro asked, causing Angela to think for a moment.

"That's a good question." Angela admitted after a while, "But it's one I am unable to answer in time. I'm just assuming he has the power to find people no matter where they are."

Hiro opened his mouth to ask another questioned, before throwing the piece of toffee inside after having nodded his head. Figuring that this was his way of saying he wanted to get this over with, Angela would walk out of the warehouse before making her way toward Noah, who was without Ando's presence.

"I explained the plan to Hiro. I want the two of you to take your places." Angela said to Noah before looking around, "Where's Ando?"

"I told him to climb the crane and wait for Sylar to come." Noah replied, "I told him what we'd be doing here."

Without the need to say anything else, Angela would nod towards Matt before heading toward a small storage container where she'd remain until Sylar emerged. There was no need for her to get in the way after all. After noticing the nod, Matt would drop the cigarette before making his way inside one of the open shipping containers. Noah would find himself slipping inside a black van, while Ando sat uncomfortably on the climbing support collar. By this point, everyone had taken their places and were waiting for the man of the hour to show up. But nothing happened, at least not yet. The wait they all had to endure was slowly chipping at their mental states, as minutes quickly felt like hours. Half an hour passed, and neither Peter or Sylar had made an appearance. This in turn caused Angela to wonder what would happen should Sylar not show up. Would they have to try this plan again, or would this be their only chance?

Right as she began reassuring herself that this plan would work, right at the corner of her eye, a dark clothed man wearing a black cap that somewhat obstructed his face. Fear quickly tightened her stomach and made it harder to breath, but she managed. There was no mistaking it; this man was Sylar. She knew no one else that dressed like that. She hoped the others could see him as well, given he was walking right in the open.

Hiro could also see this dark clothed man. He hadn't moved from his spot after all this time, but by now he wished he had. His first instinct was to run either to the left or to the right, but previous experience of being inside this very warehouse told him that there was no other exit aside from the one in front of him, and that dark clothed man was standing right by his only way out, getting closer with every step. The man stopped walking, and would lift his head intentionally so that Hiro could see his face, causing him to shiver in fear.

"It's you.." Hiro gulped, his heart beating faster than he ever felt.

"Surprised?" Sylar chuckled, tossing the black cap aside as he flashed Hiro a grin, "You should be. I would've died then and there if I never had Claire's ability of healing."

Hiro clenched his fists; he wouldn't show this monster he was scared of him!

"Don't think you can defeat the master of time and space so easily!" He'd take a step forward, "Defeating you once was no problem! Even I nearly managed to do it on my own! We can do it again with no problem!"

"Ugh, do you mean that time you tried to kill me when my mother died in my arms, or when you had stabbed me through the chest?" Sylar asked, "The only chance you'll ever have at killing me, is if you travel back in time to kill me as a baby. But I know you well enough to know that doing such a thing would turn you into a monster like me."

Hiro felt a lump form in his throat at the thought of killing a baby. Sure, it would kill Sylar and help save hundreds from his wrath - but it was still wrong! He could barely even stomach the thought! Killing Sylar now was one thing, but killing a baby was like killing your humanity. Sylar may have been a monster, but he was right about one thing - should they manage to kill him as an infant, then they'll have become monsters just like him. Hiro did not want that blood on his hands.

"I guess no matter what, I'll always be around to remind you that you're never safe." Sylar said before he continued to walk towards Hiro. Right as the young Japanese man began to panic, Sylar froze much to his relief. Behind him, Matt held an extended hand towards Sylar. Sharp pains tore through his head as he tried to keep him under his telepathic hold.

"Noah!" Matt yelled, "I can't hold him for much longer!"

"Don't worry, I'm here." Noah responded, rushing forward as Hiro stood still on his spot, never having once moved a muscle as he was too captivated by Sylar's menacing glare.

As Noah walked past Matt, he'd pull out a Glock 19 before aiming it at Sylar's head. He'd stare the bastard despite Matt's increasingly pained shout for him to get it over with. With thousands of hate filled thoughts filling his head, Noah would aim the cross-hairs of the glock right in between Sylar's eyes. Before he pulled trigger, Noah faltered. Did Sylar's eye just move under Matt's hold? No, that was impossible. No one-

"Noah!" Matt yelled, pulling Noah back into reality.

By this point however, it was too late. Sylar had broken free of Matt's telepathic hold before promptly proceeding to bend Noah's index finger in the opposite direction before he could pull the trigger. It took a second for the pain to register, and when it did, Noah screamed in pain. But he wouldn't have time to mourn over his broken appendage, as he'd find himself being lifted up off the ground. He looked over to see an angered Sylar lifting his hand ever higher, thus lifting him. Before Matt could do anything, Sylar would chuck Noah into him in order to effectively knock two opponents out of the warehouse.

"You know, it's really disappointing. I know you can make a better plan than the shitty one you conjured up." Sylar said, shaking his head disapprovingly before finally turning his attention back towards his intended target.

Hiro

Despite his token to get out, Hiro was still frozen still on the spot - not because Sylar had a telekinetic hold over him, but because he was simply frozen with fear. Sylar was quick to notice this, and shook his head again. Who was he facing here? Did they not know who he was? He couldn't stand for this.

"Hiro!" Ando yelled, snapping him out of his frozen trance.

Unfortunately for him, Sylar has had enough of these disruptions. Spinning around, he'd clench his fist and watched as Ando began to lift into the air while holding his neck. It was like an invisible hand had taken hold of it and was applying more and more pressure until he couldn't breath. It was beyond anything he had ever felt, and understandably so. This was the first time Ando ever tried to attack Sylar, and despite hearing the stories from Hiro, he had made the mistake of underestimating him.

As he neared unconsciousness, Sylar would flick Ando against the stack of crates behind him before flicking his other hand upwards, freezing Hiro on the spot. He'd turn around with an arrogant smirk as he glanced at the piece of rebar in his hands.

"Are you that dumb, or did you really think I'd fall victim to such an attack - even if you managed to hit me?" Sylar said, his smile turning into a hateful scowl.

Clenching his fist, Sylar would will Hiro closer to him - telekinetically dragging his feet across the stone floor of the warehouse. Once he was close enough, Sylar would grab Hiro by the neck before pointing his index finger at his head, making his intentions as clear as day. But before he could make his move, a familiar voice called him out.

"Sylar!" The man yelled, causing Sylar to turn around in order to catch a good look of the brave, yet foolishly stupid man that called him out.

It was Peter, to his surprise. He wasn't alone as well, as beside him were for other people. To his left was a person named Tracy Strauss, a woman with the ability to turn her entire body into water only to reform somewhere a large body of water may be, and the minor ability to freeze any objects just by touching them. To Peter's right was another person younger than Tracy named Elle Bishop with the ability to manipulate electricity, and at times electronics. The group of three stared daggers at Sylar, each harnessing their powers to deliver a world of hurt to him. Sylar didn't want to deal with them, as he was already bored of the game where he'd have to turn around to deal with yet another annoyance.

Looking behind the group, Sylar would lift his arm towards the stack of cargo containers before willing them off the ground. After throwing his arm back, Sylar would watch as three of the containers would tumble and fall toward the group. Being quick to notice this, Peter would use his enhance speed to shove Elle and Tracy out of the way just as one of the containers slammed on the ground the had previously been standing on with a thud. In order to make sure no one else would interrupt, Sylar would will the fallen cargo containers forward towards the warehouse hangar doors. Smiling as the two containers slammed against the hanger doors, effectively blocking entry there, Sylar would look around the warehouse for any other forms of entry inside the warehouse.

With there being nothing of the sort, Sylar would finally turn his attention back to Hiro - the person still being held by his neck. It did surprise Sylar a bit to know that Hiro didn't even bother to use his power, but at this point Sylar knew doing such a thing would prove futile, and Hiro knew this. In the past, Hiro had frozen time when Sylar seemed at his lowest and prepared to kill him. However, Sylar would manage to break out of the time paralysis Hiro had placed on him after he hesitated to kill him, before breaking his sword. Hiro had warped away before Sylar could really do anything, but that night was a constant reminder to Hiro that Sylar couldn't even be contained by the might of time manipulation.

"Aw, what's the matter Hiro?" Sylar pouted mockingly as he tilted his head, "Can't use your time power?"

"Just kill me." Hiro spat, "It's the only thing you're good at."

Sylar stood silent for a while as if he was actually considering the idea. Well, he had come here to kill Hiro in the first place, but a new idea had formulated in his head. There was no chance he'd pass this one up - it just sounded too good to fail!

"You're quite right; it's the only thing I'm good at! But you're not getting out that easily, Hiro." Sylar lowly growled after thrusting Hiro against a pillar, "You see, I just realised something about the little situation I've found myself in. All you idiots have gathered in one place, leaving me with the opportunity to kill two, or rather multiple birds with one stone. I mean, think about it - I've already dispatched three of your friends and I'm about to increase that number to four. See what I'm getting at?"

Hiro attempted to kick Sylar, but found himself unable to move. It only took him a second to realise he was under Sylar's telekinetic hold. Sylar had done this just to make sure Hiro didn't pull any stupid heroic stunts.

"And in order to play this out right, they'll need to come in here."

Before Hiro could question Sylar, he would find that he didn't need to. Not when he noticed Sylar raise his hand to point his index finger at his forehead. This action was all too familiar, especially for those who knew how Sylar killed his victims.

Outside of the warehouse, Peter had gathered everyone he could find by one of the fallen cargo containers; including Angela, before checking them for any injuries. The ladies were fine, including Matt to a certain extent. It was only Ando and Noah who suffered minor injuries when trying to face Sylar. All Peter could really do is advice Ando to keep his breathing steady, and straighten out Noah's finger and tell him not to move it at all if he could. He let out a small sigh as he stood up. Never before as a former medical professional did he have to work without the proper tools.

Noticing his mother looking at him from the corner of his eye, Peter would turn to face her.

"Mother I-" Peter began, only to silence himself as she raised a hand.

"I'm not angry Peter." Angela informed as she looked towards Tracy and Elle, "I see what you were trying to do."

"Everyone we can muster up for this fight can possibly change the tide of battle to our favour." Peter said even though his mother understood.

Angela looked towards the three men she had gathered earlier, going through the mistakes that had been made. Ando had never fought Sylar once, Noah didn't have any powers of his own, and Matt was still unable to fully place him under his telepathic hold. With this in mind, it really was sheer luck that they managed to win their last battle. Looking towards Tracy and Elle, she highly doubted the two would be able to do anything without the assistance of the men, save for Peter and Matt who could still stand and fight.

Before Angela could suggest a plan of action, a scream of pain would grab everyone's attention. The scream came from the warehouse, and as far as everyone knew, Sylar and Hiro were the only ones in the warehouse. They quickly began to realise who was screaming and why, causing everyone to bolt towards the warehouse.

"It's blocked!" Elle stated, taking note of the cargo containers that blockaded the hanger doors.

"Not for long it isn't!" Peter said, stepping forward.

Extending both of his hands forward, Peter would concentrate on the two cargo containers that blocked the only entrance inside. After having a clear picture of them in his head, Peter would slowly begin raising his hands upwards. Before their eyes, the group would start to see the cargo containers begin to shake before being lifted up off the asphalt. After lifting them high enough, Peter would move the containers aside before dropping them as he lowered his hands. The warehouse was now open to entry.

After everyone had rushed inside, including Angela, Noah, and Ando, the group would slowly fan out in order to find Hiro and Sylar. However, neither of the two would be seen, nor could they hear any indication of where they may be. Just as Ando prepared to check inside one of the cargo containers inside the warehouse, a drop of blood would fall on his cheek, causing him to stop moving. After realising the liquid that had fallen on him was blood, Ando would look up before gasping in shock as he noticed Sylar staring down at him with no one other than Hiro in his hold. After being spotted, Sylar would toss Hiro's unconscious body down, scoffing as Peter activated his flying power in order to catch him mid-air.

"I hope you don't mind. I had to take him out of the game before he could be a distraction, you know?" Sylar gloated before jumping down to ground level, while Peter positioned Hiro by a pillar so he'd hopefully be safe from the upcoming fight.

"Try to make this interesting, otherwise I'll just kill you on the spot." Sylar threatened with his arms crossed.

More than happy to oblige, Ando would be one of the first people to charge forwards much to everyone's surprise, while charging up an red electric ball. Once close enough, he'd toss it in Sylar's direction, only to cuss out loud as Sylar gracefully dodged the attack. While he was distracted, Sylar would land behind him before charging up an ice ball and lunging it towards him at great force. Before it could impact Ando, Elle would shatter the ball by shooting a spark of electricity at it; a stroke of luck that annoyed Sylar. Only snowy and icy particles would manage to hit Ando.

Right as Sylar turned his attention to Elle, it would be Tracy that would grab his attention by shooting an ice projectile beam at his direction, managing to hit him and knock him back a few feet. Noticing how effective the attack was, Tracy would quickly charge up another attack - launching it towards Sylar. Having foresaw this however, Sylar would quickly recover from her last attack before holding out his hand. A spark would flash on the palm of his hand before a wave of fire burst from his hand. Given Sylar was far more powerful and experienced than Tracy, he would end up overpowering her, causing a wave of fire to scorch her. Thanks to Tracy's ability to turn her skin cold, the fire that was on her would be quickly put out. Before Sylar could take advantage of her state, Elle would quickly fire lightning from her fingertips towards Sylar, effectively immobilising him temporarily. She'd use this time to grab Tracy and drag her to safety.

"Thank you." Tracy mouthed.

"Save it after the fight." Elle said, flipping a tuft of her blond hair away from her eye.

While he was down, Peter would take the opportunity to hopefully finish the man by charging towards him, kicking him up off the ground with the power of enhanced strength before punching him into a pillar once he came back down. Filled with anger and able to move once again, Sylar would stand up just as Peter began charging towards him again. With a low growl, Sylar would activate his power of telekinesis, shoving Peter back several feet. Without giving him a chance to recover from the attack, Sylar would will the rebar he had seen somewhere in the warehouse up off the ground before throwing them at Peter. Just as Peter stood up, four metal rebar strods would imbed themselves into his body, two in his stomach, one in his chest, and another in his shoulder.

Peter cried out in pain as he grabbed one of the pieces of rebar to try and pull it out, but it was no use. The force Sylar had used was strong enough to impale both him, and the wall behind him. Once he was close enough, Sylar would torture Peter by electrocuting him with Elle's power - the first one he had taken empathetically. While he was distracted, Elle would take the chance by firing a wave to electrical currents towards Sylar, causing him to yell in pain and take a knee. As Elle rushed forward to pull Peter out of the rebar, Sylar would quickly recover before engulfing his hand with fire. Before he could do anything however, Ando would blast him backwards with red electricity similar to Elle's electric manipulation.

Just as Elle pulled Peter off the rebar and Sylar prepared to attack Ando, a sudden flash of light would appear in the middle of the warehouse, knocking everyone who was near in back a few feet. Before anyone could figure out what was happening or do anything about it, the ball of light would explode, engulfing the warehouse along with everyone inside it.


	2. The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize immensely for the wait! A lot of things happened between the time I posted the last chapter and now, forcing me to put this in a temporary hiatus. Fortunately, that hiatus is over and I'm back to working on the story; I hope you managed to read those 15K words in the last chapter!
> 
> I'll be working on these chapters whenever I have the time and put a lot more effort in them than I previously was. Expect this chapter to be a lot shorter than the prologue. Enjoy!

Ever since the great Mushroom War that foresaw the annihilation of nearly every species on the planet, the Great Split ensured the formation of OOO - a vast landmass closely resembling a Pangea ruled by four elemental kingdoms. The Candy Kingdom, Fire Kingdom, Slime Kingdom, and the Ice Kingdom, with a few smaller kingdoms in the middle of it all. This landmass harbours various extraordinary lifeforms that no other creature of the past world would live to see, ranging from talking trees to magical beings once said to be mystical.

During her first days, OOO suffered greatly from the likes of evil brought on by powerful entities, most notably the Lich King. The inhabitants of OOO would prevail against this evil however, stopping it at its very source while imprisoning the Lich inside the Crystal Prison at the same time. Centuries went by after these events had unfolded. The great hero Billy goes into exile just as the first human is discovered by the Candy Kingdom after a millennium. Seeing the name Finn as one that would fit this human boy, especially when it interprets a warrior with mystical supernatural powers noted for his wisdom and generosity, after a year the Candy Kingdom would reveal the discovery of the first human named Finn.

Almost two decades have passed since his prior discovery. Since then, Finn has gone through ruthless training that has hardened his body, mind, and spirit. At first, Finn was intended to be a weapon of war used to defend the Candy Kingdom and attack her greatest of enemies, but he would eventually break free of that mindset to become the notable hero of OOO. This would prove pivotal, as not too long after the Lich would break free of his prison before very nearly blanketing OOO in a war that would tear the continent apart.

Being strong and old enough to faceoff with this beast, Finn, and his companion Jake the talking dog with the help of Marceline the Vampire Queen, Flame Princess, and Princess Bubblegum, would enact on a heroic battle against the Lich, nearly losing their own lives before the Lich eventually succumbed to their combined power, this time being killed by one of Princess Bubblegum's inventions instead of imprisoned once more. Before his death however, the Lich would whisper an enchantment, promising death to come to the beings that slaughtered him.

It has been three years since that day. Now at the age of 21, Finn Mertens continues to slash his sword at evil whenever the opportunity arises. Near the corners of the Candy Kingdom, he ruthlessly hunts for the giant cyclops that has been devastating the lands and the towns nearby. After gaining a lead, Finn races across the candy terrain in pursuit, whizzing past nearby candy-cane trees underneath dark grey clouds that hadn't gone away after they appeared a few days ago. The abnormal weather wouldn't bother Finn one bit. Whether it gave an advantage to the cyclops or not, the end result would always be the same. Finn would win yet again, and he'd gain yet another reward for his heroic deeds.

As the cyclops trail he followed began getting fresher, Finn would summon his signature grass sword that usually appears as a green wristband when unsummoned. Jumping upon the branch of a candy cane tree, Finn would quickly scope the area, spotting out a giant lumbering figure in the distance. In one swift move, Finn would jump from branch to branch towards this giant figure, letting out small huffs as he landed gracefully on each branch. Finally landing in a small clearing, Finn would lay his blue eyes on his target; a giant troll. Ever since the Lich's demise, these trolls had become a regular occurrence - a bad thing for any towns nearby these pea-brained beasts.

Finn's entrance into the forest clearing hadn't gone unnoticed - the giant troll might be stupid, but it wasn't blind. Immediately, it began charging Finn after a gurgling noise was emitted from the bowels of its throat. As Finn backed up into the forest, a tiny yellow bulldog would climb out of his pocket before making its way to the ground. Right as the troll entered the forest, this tiny bulldog would stretch to unbelievable lengths. Watching as it tied itself around two candy cane trees, Finn would keep himself from snickering as the giant troll tripped over the makeshift line. Acting quickly, Finn dashed forward with his grass sword at the ready, slicing through the trolls head before it could get up.

Knowing the beast wouldn't get up from a fatal blow (nor would it ever), Finn would climb on top of the corpse as his grass sword reformed back to the neat armband. The tiny yellow bulldog - now four feet tall would meet him on the troll's lower back with a wide grin across his features.

"I think we hit a new record, Finn! This big guy went down faster than all the other ones."

"These guys aren't a challenge anymore, Jake. There's no point in counting how long it takes to put down these things." Finn said, kicking the corpse before jumping off.

"Awh, come on! It's a fun little mini quest, y'know? Besides, since when were these guys a challenge?" Jake scoffed as he followed in pursuit, shrinking himself down so he could rest on Finn's shoulder.

"Yeah, you're right." Finn chuckled.

As the distance between Finn and the troll's corpse grew, Jake would expand his body size to appear as large as a large hill. Finn would find himself being scooped up by an arm before being placed on top of the now giant dogs back. From there, the giant bulldog would stomp across the giant candy terrain. Originally, Finn and Jake were supposed to head back to the candy castle to inform Princess Bubblegum of their success. They'd make an exception however, instead travelling to the nearby village that was devastated by this troll to inform them first of the news. They'd stick around this village for a bit, mostly to help out with repairs before making their leave toward the candy castle.

As the outlines of the candy kingdom appeared in the near distance, Jake would stop just behind a tree before lowering himself so Finn could get off. Taking the hint, Finn would slide off of Jake's back before looking up at his furry brother.

"What's up?" Finn asked, resting a hand against Jake's side.

"Sorry man, I promised Lady I'd spend as much time with her as I could after I finished with the quest. Think you can walk it from here?"

"Pf- that's like asking if I can breath." Finn laughed before nodding his head, "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll try to see if I can get Princess Bubblegum to give you a steak as a reward."

"Don't try to tempt me!" Jake scolded jokingly before turning away from the candy castle, "I'll see you around!"

As Jake walked away, Finn would stare idly at his lumbering mass before continuing his journey to the candy castle. Without Jake, the journey would take a bit longer than usual to reach the castle - but it wasn't a deterrent. In the past, Finn had travelled great distances for less serious cases like this. Finally, Finn would walk through the open gateway where he'd be greeted by patrolling banana guards. Giving them a quick nod and a smile, Finn would quickly walk away before the small group turned into a crowd around him. He could only assume that Bubblegum's patience was wearing thin, so there was no need to stall.

Finn quickly worked his way through the town before working his way through the candy keep. Usually, you'd need a reason or to be of high rank within the candy militia to enter the keep. Finn was obviously an expectation; being a former war engine for the candy army, and a hero of OOO has its quirks! Finn made his way into the throne room after speaking with the ironically named Peppermint Butler. Inside, Finn would walk up to the princess's throne, stopping as he neared the foot of the throne before taking a knee.

"You may speak." Princess Bubblegum said as Finn dipped his head.

"My lady, I dealt with the creatures threatening the people of the Candy Kingdom. They are no more."

"You dealt with them single handedly?" Bubblegum asked, the faintest hint of a smile playing at her lips.

"Jake was a big help." Finn quickly responded.

Nodding in understanding, Bubblegum would glance towards her jawcrusher guards before dismissing them with a flick of her wrist. As they left, Bubblegum would arise from her throne before taking quick steps down towards a door.

"Follow me, I have a final request I wish to make of you."

Standing up, Finn would pat his knee free of any dust that might have gotten on it before jogging after the princess. After they were alone, Finn would break out in a fit of snickering, only to stop as the princess shot him a glare.

"Sorry, sorry." Finn sighed, "I just can't handle it when you act all royally."

"Ugh, a part of me hates doing it too! It makes me look so intimidating and hard to approach." Bubblegum copied Finn's sigh as they entered another room far smaller than the throne room, "But alas, being the ruler of the strongest ruler of the land means you can't be lazy, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I get it. Seeing what you do, and how hard you work makes me sure I don't want to be the ruler of some land." Finn joked.

"That's good! I don't think you'd make a good one." Bubblegum chuckled as she handed Finn a small pouch filled with coins.

"So, what did you want me to do?" Finn asked as he slipped the small bag into a pocket.

"I just want you to check up on Marceline. We haven't talked in a while, especially after I gave her a phone so she could call me anytime."

"Actually, it's been a while since we've jammed ourselves. I'll go to her house, but its possible she's in the nightosphere."

"Really? Why?" Bubblegum asked, shooing Finn out of the room before leaving it herself.

"It's just an assumption, but I assume she's trying to take her role as a Vamposphere queen seriously."

"That's not a word, Finn." Bubblegum rolled her eyes, "Anyways, give me a call after you check up on her."

"Will do."

WIth a wave goodbye, Finn would leave the candy keep with the intention of heading home; obviously after checking up on Marceline. The journey from the candy castle to Marceline's house would take far longer without Jake, making him silently wish his friend hadn't departed early. To add to his misfortune, the wind would begin to pick up as sky darkened thanks to the grey clouds above. Gritting his teeth in irritation, Finn would quicken his pace before he eventually began to run after feeling a few droplets of water fall on his head.

With this new speed, his estimated time of arrival to Marceline's cave would be shortened. Taking shelter right as fat rain droplets began coming down in massive amounts, with distant thunder booming across the land, Finn would drag his hands across his hair before making the decision to venture deeper into the well lit cave.

He'd finally come across Marceline's house; painted pink with a brown roof alongside a white fence around it with a large deck, a basketball net, and three cupolas. After he approached the front door, he'd knock four times before waiting patiently for Marceline to hover over toward the door. While he waited, Finn would overhear the sound of running water. Although it could very well be the water behind the house, Finn would use this to fuel the belief that Marceline wasn't in the Nightosphere.

His belief would come true, as not too long afterwards the door would slowly open to reveal a woman wearing a black tank top, along with dark blue jeans with rips in them. Her expression first appeared as one someone would wear when they had the intentions of hurting someone, causing Finn to lightly chuckle as she quickly changed it to a smile, then back to a less convincing angry look.

"I have to give you credit, mortal. No one has the bravery to venture into the Vampire Queen's layer!"

"Yeah, nice try Marceline. You aren't fooling anyone with that expression." Finn said flat-out, causing Marceline to scrap her pre-arranged monologue.

"So if you aren't here to hear a monologue, then what is it?"

"Two things. Bubblegum wanted me to check up on you, and I wanted to jam out with ya."

"Kill two birds with one stone, eh?" Marceline smirked. Before answering, she'd scratch her chin in thought before letting out a sigh as she looked back down at Finn with a frown, "Sorry dude, I don't think I'll be available today - lady stuff. I think I'll be free by tomorrow, think you can swing by then?"

Finn tried but failed to repress a giddy smile, "Tomorrow is perfect! I'll come over right as the birds start chirping!"

"Chill your horses little man! I don't know if I'll be able to jam tomorrow. Anyways, you can tell Bubblegum I'm fine."

"Very well, my lady." Finn said, knowing it would tick off Marceline.

"Ugh, just- shoo, before you incur the wrath of the Vampire Queen!" Marceline said in a deep gurgling voice before closing the door as Finn gave her a wave.

Slightly let down, Finn would walk back to the entrance of the cave where he'd surely get soaked right as he left. To his fortune, although it was still cloudy, it had stopped raining. Not wanting to take any chances by slowly walking through the grasslands, Finn would proceed to run back to his house - a treehouse if you'd rather.

Reaching the house within a few short minutes, Finn would dart into the entrance after opening the door. Catching his breath, he'd close the door before making his way up towards the living room after carelessly tossing the pouch of gold onto his pile of gold, jewelry, and swords. After he entered the living room, Finn would collapse onto the couch before letting out a groan mixed with a sigh. This was one of the very few times he could settle down and take a break, as he was usually out defending princess's from the Ice King and other stuff.

Remembering he had to inform Bubblegum of Marceline's condition, Finn would quickly rush to his telephone before dialling Bubblegum's number.

"Princess Bubblegum speaking."

"It's Finn! I'm just calling to let you know that Marceline is fine." Finn informed as he toyed with the phone's cord.

"Ah, that's good to hear! Did she say why she wasn't talking to me?"

Finn winced slightly, "I forgot to ask."

"Oh, that's fine. I'm sure it's not important. Is there anything else?"

"I'm sure I can ask her again. I'm going over to her place tomorr-" Right before Finn could finish his sentence, a lightning bolt would strike the ground dangerously close to the tree house.

As Finn realised that the bolt had cut out all the power in the house including the phone connection, he'd rush to the window just in time to see multiple lightning bolts hit the same spot over and over again. Being too bright to look at directly, Finn would divert his gaze while covering his ears to protect against the thundering boom that followed after each lightning strike. After Finn could no longer hear the muffled noises, nor could he feel his house vibrate, he'd slowly noticed the noise had gone away, he'd lower his hands before looking back out the window. Squinting his eye towards the scorched earth, Finn would spot out the outline of a motionless figure on the spot the lightning bolts hit.

Without a second thought, Finn would race out of his house before running to help the man incase he was severely injured. As he got a closer look, he skidded to a halt. The battle hardened adventurer was now frozen still on the spot as this figure filled his vision - he simply could take his eyes off them. The more he stared, the more his suspicions arose.

This motionless man was human.

Although this theory had yet to be confirmed, Finn couldn't just leave this unconscious man lying on the ground, especially with the potential that more lightning bolts may strike this spot. Noticing the large cut on the man's forehead, Finn would take immediate action. He'd carefully swing him over his shoulder before making his way back toward the tree house. Climbing up the ladder into the living room would prove to be difficult, as Finn had to make sure this man wouldn't slip off his shoulder at any given point. Fortunately, he'd make his way into the living room without much delay.

As Finn placed the man on the couch, he'd dart back and forth around his house searching for things he could use to patch up the wound on the man's forehead. Although he wasn't a doctor, he had taken a few lessons from Doctor Princess that provided him knowledge of the basics when it came to situations requiring medical treatment. Coming back with cotton, rubbing alcohol, a bandage, and two towels; dry and damp, Finn would pull up a chair beside the man before he'd begin to dress his wound.

(Note, please don't do what Finn here is doing. My understanding of medical treatment isn't that great, so this could be entirely wrong. That's all I wanted to say, back to the story!)

He'd start by cleaning the wound by damping a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol before lightly pressing it on the outer layers of the wound. He'd wince slightly as he noticed the man slightly squirm, but alas, he continued. While he was at it, he used the opportunity to wipe away the blood using the damp towel before rubbing a bit more rubbing alcohol onto the man's forehead. Once he felt as if he had done what he could, Finn would grab the bandages before enveloping his forehead around in them until the blood no longer leaked through.

Although he had done what he could, Finn still felt as if there was more to be done. He'd have to take him to Doctor Princess just to be sure. Right as he began to discard the medical equipment, a loud zap would echo throughout the house. Finn would nearly jump out of his skin yet again as the lights came back on. Finn didn't have the chance to allow his eyes to readjust to the sudden brightness of the room, as not too long afterwards, he would hear flapping noise from the outside. He would finally go to investigate after the noise ceased, only to be replaced by a knock at the door. Opening the door, Finn would lightly exhale through his nose before stepping outside.

"Can I help you?" Finn asked, a bit annoyed by the unannounced arrival of a candy apple; an emotionless entity that almost acts like a robot

"We apologise for the intrusion, Finn the human. Our princess was concerned when your phone connection suddenly cut out. She believed you to be in mortal danger."

"Me? In danger?" Finn chuckled as he crossed his arms, "I laugh in the face of danger!"

"Is that the response you wish for the princess to hear?" The candy apple asked, its daunting smile sending chills down Finn's spine.

"Ah, right. I forgot you- never mind. I'll tell her what happened myself, just say that I'm okay."

"If that is your wish, Finn the human."

Finn allowed himself to wince as the candy apple waddled away with its hands slightly extended outwards. Say what you want about the little things, but they sure are fast. Explains how they got here from when the power cut out to now. He'd shake his head as 'Finn the human' repeated itself in his mind. It was how people used to refer to him, until one day they simply started to refer to him as Finn, or Finn the hero. A much better alternative.

The unconscious man! He had forgotten all about him - what if he was awake now?! With a new rush of adrenaline, Finn rushed into his house up to the living room. The sense of excitement turned into disappointment; he was still asleep on the couch. Although he had moved, he didn't show any signs of waking up, but that moment would come soon, Finn just knew it!

Knowing he couldn't keep this matter to himself, Finn made his way towards the phone. The first person who came to mind was Jake, surely he could understand and help a brother out! A loud groan escaped his lips as he remembered Jake was at Lady's, and he never got her phone number. He should've forced Jake to buy one so they wouldn't be in this exact situation! No matter, there was one more person he needed to call anyways. Quickly dialling the number, he'd hold the phone up to his ear, awaiting for the lines to connect.

"Princess Bubblegum speaking."

"Guess who." Finn nervously chuckled.

"Oh, Finn! I'm glad you're okay - there was a loud noise right before the connection cut out, are you okay?"

Finn quirked a brow - he expected the candy apple to have already told her of his condition, "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Lightning bolt went off right next to my house, can you believe it?"

"I hardly can! Is the house okay - no wait, stupid question - are you okay? - no, I ask that question already!"

"It's alright Bubblegum! I have yet to check on the house, but-." From his peripheral vision, Finn would notice the man shift slightly, "Right, I just remembered I needed something."

"Hm? This is a rarity. What is it that you need?"

"It's very hard to explain properly." Finn sighed, "I'd feel better about it if you came over."

"Finn, you know I can-"

"I think I found a human."  
A moment of notable silence would pass. On the other line, Bubblegum had clasped a hand over her mouth. She briefly believed her hearing to be faltering - a theory that she quickly dropped. Her hearing was just fine, she was simply in a state of shock. Finn had just informed her that he had found a human. A human aside from him. A human that no one else has seen ever since the Mushroom war, disincluding Finn. Bubblegum refused to believe it - this 'human' had to be a fake.

"Finn, you know shapeshifters exist, right? This thing probably isn't what you think it is."

"Yeah, but you forget one thing. Shapeshifters can only reform into a being they've made contact with, and these things don't really live that long - only a few months to be exact."

"But remember, in order for it to shape shift it must kill the being it wishes to change to."

Finn clenched the handle of the phone, "Now that I think about it, the chances of this guy being human are slim. Those lightning bolts that hit the ground, the ones that cut the connection? When I went to scope the scene, he was lying there. Either the guy was standing there right as the lightning came down on him, or he was brought here. Whatever the answer is, I want to be absolutely sure, and I can't think of anyone better to decipher this whole mystery than you."

There was another long pause, even longer than the first. Finn scratched at his leg anxiously, awaiting Bubblegum's answer. Even the greatest minds in OOO would struggle to give a reply to something this complicated. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Bubblegum would give her reply.

"If I have enough time, I'll come by. But this won't come without a cost."

"I understand. Thank you so much for considering." Finn sighed with relief as he felt an absurd amount of weight lifted off his shoulders.

"Don't get your hopes up Finn. I'm suspicious of this so-called 'human'."

"I have no intentions to. I'll see you when you get here." Once the two had exchanged farewells, Finn would hang up the phone.

Although Finn had the attention of taking a short nap, the afternoon would revoke him of the opportunity. The man on the couch would slowly begin to stir, his body moving and turning as if it was demanding to be awoken. As Finn looked on, he couldn't help but notice the times where the man would scrunch up his face, almost as if he was in pain.

A quick gasp, and the man shot up with his eyes snapping open. Finn hadn't noticed it before, but this man's eyes appeared to be slanted. The hopes that he was human diminished further. The man clutched his head as a painful headache shot through. It was like he had gone drinking earlier, but that wasn't the case - a hangover wouldn't be this bad unless he got blackout drunk. Again, that wasn't the case as the man slowly began to recover his memories. He'd quickly stand up just as Finn slowly made his way towards him.

"Peter, Ando!" The man looked around before collapsing once more.

Before he made contact with the old wooden floor, Finn would catch him just in the nick of him. Whether he was human or not, this person was obviously in some kind of distress. Knowing what he had to do, Finn would lead the man back to the couch.

"Hey, you're okay buddy. Come on, take a seat and relax. I'll get you some water." Finn comforted before retreating to the kitchen to fill a glass with some nice cold water.

He'd quickly return to the living room to find the man's hands clasped over his face. Frowning, he'd set the glass in front of him before taking a seat beside him.

"Can you tell me who you are?" Finn asked, clasping his shoulder.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Hiro - Hiro Nakamura."

"Hiro Naka-er, I'll just call you Hiro." Finn rubbed the back of his head, "So, what's wrong?"

"H-Huh?" Hiro looked toward Finn.

"Well, you had this cut on your head when I found you, and when you finally woke up you screamed out loud. You yelled out 'Ando' and 'Peter' before collapsing. Are those other hum-" Finn pinched himself, "Sorry, I mean are those friends of yours."

"Good friends." Hiro shifted his gaze towards the glass of water.

At the sight of it, his mouth began to run dry. He'd quickly snatch it up from the table before gulping it down in a few gos, surprising Finn.

"W-What's the last thing you remember?" Finn asked as Hiro turned his attention back to him, "I'm just wondering. That cut on your head might've jumbled up some memories."

"The last thing I- remember.." Hiro paused, his breath hitching, "I was the bait to lure him in. We were so close in finally ridding the Earth of that horrible monster. B-But then, something went wrong and-"

Hiro lightly patted the bandages on his forehead, "The last thing I remember is my head being cut open after he made quick work of my friends."

Finn was never given the chance to digest the information given to him. In a quick motion, Hiro would spin towards Finn before grabbing his shoulders tightly. Despite the overwhelming headache, Hiro found it necessary to demand answers from Finn.

"My friends! You must've seen them, right? Peter? Matt? What about Ando - they must be here!"

"I-I'm sorry, Hiro! You were the only one I saw on the ground."

"Take me!" Hiro slipped off of Finn, falling on his knees before clasping his hands together, "You must take me to where you found me! There's a chance that they're still there!"

"Hiro, I don't know what to say." Finn said softly, "You were right next to my house when I found you. Although this is completely stupid, I think you were brought here through lightning."

Finn felt like tearing off his own head after reading Hiro's expression. He wouldn't have believed himself either, but it was the best theory he could come up with.

"If it makes you feel any better, I can show you where I found you. You won't find your friends though. The house is a tree in the middle of a very large clearing, so I would've seen them otherwise."

Hiro considered the idea before ultimately deciding against it, "No, there's no point. I don't think you'd lie to me, especially considering how nice you've been so far."

"That's why they called me 'Finn the Hero'!" Finn smirked while puffing out his chest, "Ooh! I just realised - if you're human, we could be like partners alongside Jake! You're Hiro, right? I guess you could be Hiro the Hero! A bit cliche, but, er-"

"What?" Hiro tilted his head.

"S-Sorry about that, I got a little carried away."

"If I'm human?" Hiro looked at his hands, "But I am."

"No, don't say that." Finn looked away, "Don't give me hope. The princess is on her way to give us a clear answer."

"I don't understand. What do you mean by-" A knock at the door would interrupt Hiro.

This would be the distraction Finn had suddenly hoped for. Without waiting for Hiro to finish his sentence, Finn would excuse himself from the couch before making his way down to the front door. A familiar face would greet him as soon as he opened the door.

"Hello Princess." Finn dipped his head.

"Let's get this over with. I've had to delay my plans just so I could see if someone is human as you claim."

"But aren't you curious about the results?" Finn stepped aside, allowing Bubblegum to enter his home.

"I'm skeptical. Aside from you, no one has seen a human in a thousand years. Even if there are humans out there, their numbers would be far too little to have a big impact on the world as they used to."

"Woah, how do you know about that?"

"History fascinates me Finn. From the data I've managed to recover from ruins, humans transitioned from frail beings, to gods that ruled the planet, to a species that is either extinct or near-extinction. I should bring you along on one of these endeavors actually. I don't see the harm in you learning about your kind."

"That's thoughtful of you." Finn smiled lightly as he followed the princess up the ladder.

In the living room, Bubblegum's gaze would fall on Hiro. He was still sitting in the same spot on the couch. The only thing that seemed to be different was the empty cup of water. At least he had something to drink.

As Bubblegum took a few steps forward, her presence would finally be noticed by Hiro. She'd stop as soon as their eyes met. Studying him carefully from where she was standing, Bubblegum could not see anything irregular. His irises were normal, his nails weren't sharp, and his nose wasn't pointed. If this thing wasn't human, it was sure a good job at pretending to be one. The only way she could confirm his 'humanity' would be to grab a blood sample from both him and Finn to compare the dna.

"Ah, it just dawned on me that I never caught your name." Bubblegum stated, clasping her hands together.

"His name is Hiro Nakasomething." Finn answered for Hiro.

"He's not a talkative person, is he?" Bubblegum asked, noticing that Hiro hadn't said a word since she had came up. In fact, he almost looked afraid of something.

"Hey, it's okay little guy! I'm just going to take a little blood sample."

Her wording must've been wrong, because Hiro's frightful expression worsened. He glanced at Finn, silently begging him to save him from this monstrous mass of bubblegum. He realised that it was a waste to hope for Finn's help - he wasn't even doing anything but standing behind this 'Bubblegum', watching him.

"P-Please don't hurt me." Hiro immediately threw up his arms in defense once he noticed Bubblegum reach out toward him.

"Finn, was this man like this when you found him?" Bubblegum retracted her hand as she turned toward Finn.

"He was relatively calm up until a certain point."

Scrunching her facial expression in deep thought, Bubblegum turned toward Hiro. Thinking about how she should approach this man, Bubblegum would grab a wooden chair before sitting down after pulling it close to Hiro. She made sure to keep her distance, as to not provoke him.

"I'm not here to hurt you. As princess of the Candy Kingdom, you have my word."

"H-How?" Hiro stammered, "How c-can gum talk?"

Bubblegum created a theory in her head, "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Where's here?" Hiro asked. Although he was reluctant to admit it, he began to grow more comfortable with the princess, albeit by a little bit.

Bubblegum and Finn exchanged nods, confirming what they had been suspecting for a while now.

"Hiro, is it?" Hiro nodded before Bubblegum continued, "You're in OOO."

Hiro's expression once filled with fear changed to that of confusion, "OOO?"

"It's the name of the land many creatures inhabit, from talking mountains to skeletons. None of this would be possible if it wasn't for the Mushroom War."

"Mushroom war?" Hiro tilted his head.

"Aw, come on man! Everyone knows about the Mushroom War!" Finn yelled before lowering his head as the princess shot him a glare.

With a sigh, she'd return her attention back to Hiro, "If I may ask, what's the last thing you remember before coming here?"

Hiro looked down as he recollected his memories, "After a very bad man made quick work of my friends, he turned to me before cutting my head." He pointed to the cut on his head, "After that, I passed out."

"Do you remember where this happened?"

Hiro's eyes met Bubblegum's, "If you're asking me to take you there, I don't think I can. I don't even know how I got here."

Nodding her head, Bubblegum stood up, "Then I'd like to take you to the Candy Kingdom to ask a few more questions, as well as run a small test on you if that's okay."

Hiro shot Finn a worried glance. There was nothing but a reassuring smile from Finn - something that did help alleviate his worries. Looking back at Bubblegum, he'd rub the back of his hand before nodding in agreement.

"Very well. We'll be leaving now." Bubblegum would turn to Finn, "You'll have to come too."

"I was going to anyway." Finn quickly replied, "I want to see the results of the test myself."

"Good. Now get close, this is a rather perfect opportunity to show you a new invention I made."

Slipping out a device with two dials, a green button, and a LCD screen, Bubblegum would wait until Finn and Hiro were right next to her before turning the dials with the utmost of focus. After she set the right coordinates, she'd press the green button. A bubble large enough to encase the three would form out of thin air as a high pitched whine came out of the device. Once the whine seemed to reach its peak, the group of three would suddenly find themselves in Bubblegum's lab.

Though Finn didn't seem to be bothered by the new location, Hiro looked to be in a state of shock. This state lasted for a few seconds as Bubblegum grabbed his attention.

"Sorry about the mess. I didn't know I'd be having anyone in here, so I didn't bother to clean up."

"O-Oh, you don't have to be sorry." Hiro looked around, "So, what is this place?"

"Didn't I already tell you?" Bubblegum asked, "Ngh. It's my lab. I took us here in order to make confirmation of something, now stick out your arm."

Doing as told, Hiro slowly lifted his arm as Bubblegum looked around for something. She'd mutter under her breath as she dug through a small pile of beakers and gloves, worrying both Finn and Hiro.  
Just as Hiro turned to Finn to ask him a question, Bubblegum would spring out from behind a table with two needles in one hand and what appeared to be a DNA reader in the other. Shaking her head free of any clumps of dust that might've gotten on it, she'd place the microscope on the table closest to Hiro. Afterwards, in a very quick motion she'd flick Hiro's arm, stick the needle inside of him and draw just a small amount of blood. The moment he began to freak out was when she took the needle out.

"Sorry for not telling you beforehand, but it was necessary. Given how jumpy you seem, I didn't know how you react to a stranger sticking a needle inside of you."

"Isn't that still bad, if not worse?" Finn asked as Bubblegum approached him with the other needle.

"Don't you also want to know if this man is human or not?" Bubblegum asked, gently grabbing Finn's arm.

"Yeah, but-"

"What are you talking about?" Hiro interrupted with his arms crossed, "I am human!"

"That remains to be seen, Hiro." Bubblegum replied after taking a bit of Finn's blood, "In case you haven't figured it out yet, you're a rather special case. In this world you're in, disincluding Finn, humans haven't been seen for at least a thousand years."

Bubblegum would leave Hiro to digest the information given to him as she headed toward the microscope with Finn's blood in the other needle. Grabbing two microscopic slides, she'd stain the small glass with Hiro's before sliding it under the lens of the microscope. Then, Bubblegum would look through the lens to see if there were any irregularities with Hiro's blood. Though nothing seemed wrong, Bubblegum wasn't going to call it quits there. She didn't want to accept that this man was human, because of one test.

Grabbing two test tubes, the princess would grab the needle that contained the rest of Hiro's blood before shooting it inside. She'd place down the test tube after placing a cap on it and using a marker to write down 'H'. For Finn's blood she'd repeat the process. Pour it in a test tube, place a cap on it, and write down 'F' on it.

Now, it was time to unleash the truth. Grabbing the two blood filled test tubes, Bubblegum would slide them inside compartments built into the DNA reader upside down. Once the DNA reader showed a green light, confirming that it was ready to match the human DNA, she'd press a button. While they waited for the results, Hiro would tug on Finn's blue shirt to grab his attention.

"You think I'm human, right?"

"I don't know what to think at the moment." Finn sighed after keeping silent for half a minute, "I want you to be human, but at the same time I don't want to get my hopes up."

Hiro placed a hand on Finn's shoulder, "You won't have to."

"Because believe it or not, he is." Bubblegum cut in.

"What are you saying?" Finn quickly turned his attention toward Bubblegum.

"As far as the DNA reader says, Hiro is human. However, he isn't a pure blooded human like you are?"  
"What are you saying?" Finn repeated, more urgently this time.

"Though Hiro is human, more so that any other living thing in OOO aside from you, he isn't a full blooded one. I'll have to put more research into his other bloodline, and that may or may not require more tests."

"I understand." Finn dipped his head before lifting it to look at Hiro, "So, you're human?"

"As human as I am." Hiro smiled.

"Heh." Finn eagerly shared the smile, "I can tell you and I are going to be good friends."

"Alright boys, if you're done I'd like for you to leave so I can start cleaning up this shi-"

"Bonnie!" An enraged voice yelled out.

Finn and Hiro would turn their heads in time to see Marceline barge through the doors with someone in her clawed hands. She'd carelessly toss him toward the group before moving her hands down to her hips.

"Listen Bonnie, I don't know your sense of humor, but making lightning arch far enough to hit my house crosses the line! Not only that, but you somehow managed to make it summon a human!"

"A what?!" Finn gasped as he immediately looked to where she had thrown the man.

"Marceline, why on earth would I do that - and how?!"

"Because you're so starved of my touch you feel the only way to get my attention is to destroy my house!"

"Your logic literally makes no sense!"

"Excuse me?" The yet-to-be-named man raised a hand, "I don't mean to be a bother, but I think your bickering literally woke me up."

"Peter?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See? I told you this chapter would be shorter than the prologue - somewhat. I've actually changed it up so that it exceeds over 7000 words, as it was originally 3000. Now that I've finished this, I'm really happy I decided to go through with this remake. Just like in the prologue, a lot of changes have been made - most of which are obvious if you compare this with the original. (which is only available on fanfiction.net). I decided to change up the official lore of Adventure Time a bit so it fits with the story I'm trying to set up.
> 
> Please leave a positive & constructive review if you enjoyed reading this chapter, as it inspires me to continue working on the story! I'll try to have the next chapter out without taking a month long hiatus!

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, sorry about the chapter being so long. To be fair, this is probably going to be the longest chapter I'll ever pump out for the story. I originally planned on splitting this into four chapters before deciding that keeping it as one for a prologue of sorts is better.
> 
> Anyways, please leave a positive review or constructive criticism as it inspires be to continue working on the story! I shall see you all in the next chapter.


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